Call for Founders: Join Our UK Spring 2025 Residency

The best founders don’t wait for permission—they build, challenge, and create from first principles. At Antler, we back entrepreneurs who see opportunities where others see obstacles, think independently, and move fast to bring ideas to life.

We are sector-agnostic, investing in founders across AI, fintech, climate tech, deep tech and more. While we don’t dictate what to build, we look for those with the drive to reshape industries, rally others around their vision, and execute with relentless energy. This isn’t just a list of problems or solutions—it’s an open invitation to create the future.

As the world’s most active early-stage VC, we’ve backed over 1,400 startups across 27 cities in five years. The UK is home to an extraordinary tech ecosystem, and since 2019, we’ve invested in over 100 UK-based companies. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the builders, go-to-market leaders, and entrepreneurs ready to challenge the status quo and build the next billion-pound company.

Our Spring 2025 Residency is where ambitious founders find the backing, network, and momentum to launch category-defining companies. Whether you align with our ideas, have a bold new vision, or are hungry to start, we want to hear from you. Let’s reimagine industries, rethink systems, and reinvent how we live together. Start your application today and a member of the investment team will guide you through each stage of the process.

Check out our Call for Founders below, each suggested by a member of the Antler team in the UK:

Turbocharge British industry, manufacturing and robotics.

• Founders who see a future with robots:
  • Why: The UK must catch up to global leaders in robotic adoption by making automation accessible to SMEs. The rise of Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) provides an opportunity to shift robotics from large capital expenditures to subscription-based models, enabling wider adoption.
• Founders with unparalleled networks of advanced manufacturers:
  • Why: The UK can rebuild industrial independence by leveraging AI and robotics to optimise production, improve quality control, and reduce operational costs—offsetting higher domestic manufacturing costs.
• Founders ready to unpack distributed manufacturing:
  • Why: The future of manufacturing is shifting from centralised, massive factories to decentralised, distributed systems, including 3D printers operating across diverse locations

Establish the UK as a global leader in climate tech.

• Founders with circular economy experience:
  • Why: The UK’s net-zero goal by 2050 depends on circular economy principles that address manufacturing waste in industries like construction, textiles, and electronics while driving sustainable energy and waste management innovations.
• Founders passionate about revolutionising energy production:
  • Why: As more consumers adopt solar panels & heat pumps and business bring energy production and storage onsite, there is a growing opportunity to manage and leverage these decentralised energy sources. 
• Founders redefining energy storage and distribution:
  • Why: The future of energy lies in next-generation storage and distribution, including solid-state batteries, energy harvesting, wireless transfer, and microgrid solutions that enable local, shared power networks.
• Founders driving down carbon emissions:
  • Why: Whether making carbon capture technologies a reality or developing the tools that will allow large institutions to drive down their carbon footprint, there are considerable opportunities to innovate.
• Founders experimenting with time-aware AI systems:
  • Why: AI systems that can understand and model temporal dynamics will redefine climate modelling, logistics, and financial forecasting, enabling predictive and proactive decision-making.

Harness AI to increase the quality of care in our healthcare systems.

• Founders with expertise in predictive healthcare and diagnostics:
  • Why: AI-driven healthcare can monitor real-time patient data, predict disease risks, and enhance diagnostics—especially in underserved specialities like rare or complex disorders.
• Founders hacking productivity:
  • Why: AI, computer vision, and automation can help reduce NHS backlogs, enhance self-management tools, and improve operational efficiency in healthcare environments.
• Founders with medical robotics experience:
  • Why: The NHS needs to develop robotics for micro-manufacturing or precision medical interventions, leveraging advancements in nanotechnology and bioengineering.

Pioneer Fintech 2.0, consolidating London’s status as the global capital of fintech.

• Founders specialising in decentralised finance:
  • Why: AI and decentralised finance (DeFi) will redefine payments, lending, and investment, reducing costs and expanding financial inclusion. Whether agentic or person-to-person payments, change is rushing over the horizon.
• Founders who know more than anyone else about stablecoins or tokenisation:
  • Why: Tokenisation and stablecoin-powered fintech can democratise access to high-value markets and offer financial autonomy through transparent blockchain solutions.
• Founders hacking agentic AI in finance:
  • Why: We must build fintech products that leverage agentic AI for hyper-personalised financial planning, optimising investments, savings, and credit decisions in real-time.
• Founders analysing transaction data:
  • Why: We can develop models to analyse real-time transaction data, detect unusual patterns, and prevent fraudulent activities, safeguarding financial institutions and their customers.

Drive innovation in one of the UK’s greatest exports - creative industries.

• Founders who want to help creators:
  • Why: We need to build tools that amplify the UK’s cultural influence by helping creators—musicians, writers, filmmakers, and designers—reach international audiences.
• Founders using technologies to explore new media:
  • Why: The UK can lead the way in creating tools that will power the next generation of media, from virtual reality filmmaking to generative AI-driven art and design.
• Founders who want to unleash creativity:
  • Why: We need to create tools for independent UK media, gaming, and film producers to distribute content globally, bypassing large corporate gatekeepers.

Innovation to protect democracy and improve public services.

• Founders passionate about defending democracy and national security:
  • Why: To defend democracy, the UK needs AI-driven tools to combat disinformation, safeguard elections, and detect foreign influence campaigns targeting citizens and businesses.
• Founders championing socioeconomic mobility or looking to 10x public service:
  • Why: Automating government processes and democratising AI-driven services can boost socioeconomic mobility, streamline public services, and reduce administrative burdens.
• Founders asking ethical questions about AI:
  • Why: Startups must focus on AI monitoring, ethics, or compliance to ensure the safe deployment of AI in critical sectors such as government, health and more.

Leverage AI to solve the UK’s productivity crisis.

• Founders looking at the future of work:
  • Why: AI can boost productivity by helping people monetise skills and launch businesses while optimising workflows and automating repetitive tasks.
• Founders with experience building AI agents:
  • Why: AI assistants can automate daily tasks (e.g., bills and scheduling) or evolve into lifelong mentors who guide career, education, and personal development.
• Founders with an unfair advantage in team growth and success:
  • Why: Startups can create AI-driven systems that provide immediate, constructive feedback to employees on tasks and communication styles, improving workplace communication and productivity.

Keeping the UK ahead with future-defining technologies.

• Founders cracking quantum technology infrastructure and applications:
  • Why: Quantum computing can revolutionise industries like cybersecurity, finance, and logistics by solving complex problems exponentially faster than traditional systems. Supporting UK quantum startups will keep the nation at the cutting edge.
• Founders building neurotech interfaces:
  • Why: Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) could revolutionise human-computer interaction, unlocking new possibilities in healthcare, gaming, and communication. UK-based innovators could lead the development of cutting-edge BCIs for enhanced cognitive and physical capabilities.
• Founders exploring space technologies for Earth applications:
  • Why: Innovations in satellite technology, in-orbit manufacturing, and space-based energy systems can solve Earth-bound challenges, from precision agriculture to global internet coverage, positioning the UK at the forefront of space innovation.
• Founders engineering programmable matter:
  • Why: Programmable matter—materials that can change shape, property, or function—could disrupt industries such as manufacturing, construction, and healthcare. The UK could lead the development of shape-shifting materials for adaptive use.
• Founders creating autonomous systems for extreme environments:
  • Why: From underwater exploration to disaster response, autonomous systems operating in extreme or hazardous conditions could redefine sectors like energy, mining, and environmental monitoring.

Antler backs the world’s most driven founders from day zero to greatness. As the world’s issues become more complex, founders are more needed than ever to solve them. Apply now to launch category-defining companies during our UK Spring 2025 Residency.