Global VC Antler invests in seven startups during its second UK cohort

Global startup generator and early-stage venture capital firm Antler has invested in 7 startups during its second UK cohort, taking its global investment total to over $30M (approx €25.5M)

This activity comes in spite of the coronavirus pandemic that has brought about the widespread lockdown, and a reported slowdown in venture capital activity, especially at the early stage.

About Antler

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.

According to the company. the founders of its portfolio companies represent more than 50 nations and more than 38% of them have at least one female co-founder. During the selection process, it looks for an inner drive, a clear spike, and grit in a founder. 

The VC firm helps startups build a co-founding team, validate business models, build early traction, and meet investors during ‘Demo Day’.

‘Demo Day’?

‘Demo Day’ is when the founders pitch to local and international investors in hopes of securing their next round of funding. During a six-month programme, Antler London helped participants find co-founders and build strong teams, validate their business ideas, and gain early traction.

This year’s ‘Demo Day’ will be hosted remotely. Antler revealed that 2,600 individuals from 31 different nationalities applied for its second London-based cohort, a 50 percent rise from the previous year.

After conducting 440 face-to-face interviews, 71 founders were selected for the program, half of whom had previously launched a startup.

According to the company, Antler invests about US$100,000 – $150,000 (depending on location) for an equity stake in each company. This is the net investment amount. The exact amounts vary depending on location. 

In order to cover the cost of the program, Antler requires all companies, invested in, to pay a program fee between $15,000 – $50,000, depending on location. This is taken from the gross investment, so at no point do companies pay Antler, it claims. 

In keeping with Antler’s focus on supporting companies with diverse leadership, over half of the companies that raised money (four out of seven) had at least one woman founder, significantly above the London average of 21%. The London portfolio of 7 companies includes Glaize, Liminal Health, Mast, MetaLynx, Noah, PriceBring, and Scribe.

Glaize

Glaize was co-founded by Gina Farran (CEO) and Chris Mosedale (CPO). It is a D2C brand with an aim to reinvent nail care through technology while removing plastics. They want to change how women get their nails done, as well as what nail care products are made of. In a nutshell, Glaize makes gel manicures easier, faster, and healthier for women via its made-to-measure gels.

Liminal Health

Founded by Candice Hampson (CEO) and Christine Beardsell (CMO), Liminal Health provides technology-enhanced coaching to support people affected by cancer and other long-term health conditions. Their vision is a world where everyone finds it easy to be proactive about their health.

Mast

The startup was founded by Joy Joseph Abisaab (CEO), Robert Stronach (CPO) and Henry Stanley (CTO). Mast is a cloud-native mortgage origination system that helps lenders save costs, underwrite more applications, deliver new levels of service, and create the best digital experience possible.

Meta Lynx

Founded by Pierre Dufrasne (CEO), Kanwal Bhatia (CSO), and Hrair Mekhsian (CTO), Meta Lynx makes virtual sponsorship a reality for sports. Its technology for virtual sponsor replacement enables sports rights-holder to generate new revenue, by slicing up their sponsorship packages in new ways. This, in turn, allows sponsors to reach the right audience, at the right place, and in the best moments.

Noah

The startup was founded by Philip Werner and Stephanie Demetriou. Noah is disrupting the creative process and production of video. Noah provides users with ideas, templates for scriptwriting, guidance for recording, and an automated editing tool, for easy storytelling

through video. Noah’s mission is to democratise the power of video by becoming one-stop end-to-end video creation, management, and distribution tool.

PriceBring 

Founded by Nikolay Khokhlov (CEO), Carl-Ferdinand Forster (COO), and Maulik Sailor (CPO), PriceBring is a B2B Marketplace for corner shops to replenish stock at the best prices, discover deals and get it delivered. The startup is on a mission to create a one-stop-shop for independent retailers starting with procurement and then adding value-added services: financing, integration with POS, inventory management, data analytics, and more.

Scribe

The startup was founded by Rob Cossins (CEO) and Emmanuel Hadoux (CTO). Scribe is accelerating lending and investment decisions, using research-based AI. Scribe was born out of a desire to introduce cutting edge technology into finance, reducing administration and supporting business activities, with fully automated analysis. Their aim is to explain the world’s data.

Antler operates in 8 locations globally

Antler has already invested in and helped build over 175 companies since its launch. Several of these early-stage startups have since secured follow-on investment by top-tier VCs. Of these companies, 40% have at least one female co-founder, and the founders represent 70 nationalities.

Currently, Antler has 8 locations globally including Amsterdam, Singapore, London, New York, Stockholm, Sydney, Nairobi, and Oslo.

Image credit: Antler