Launch, build, and scale your startup with Antler in India

Rajiv is a Partner in the Antler Bangalore office. He co-founded Urban Ladder (UL), India's top omni-channel furniture brand. Over ~8 years, UL raised over $100Mn in venture capital from top Indian VCs and changed the way Indians shop for furniture online. Prior to Urban Ladder, he served as a Senior Product Manager with Yahoo. He has been featured on GQ Influential Young Indians and repeatedly on the Fortune 40 Under 40 India list. Rajiv loves working with early-stage entrepreneurs on product, culture and brand to build scalable companies.

Nitin brings 12+ years of experience in global venture capital, having invested in 100+ tech startups across stages, from being the first believer all the way to pre-IPO. Nitin learnt the ropes of the VC business in the US at NEA (one of the world’s largest funds) and was also an early executive at EverFi (acq. by Blackbaud for $750M). Nitin was part of the founding team at Lightbox Ventures, one of India’s leading funds (now $400M AUM). He then created his own micro-VC (FirstPrinciples) as a thesis-driven, early believer in 40+ startups, and was the first VC in India to focus on Web3. A Wharton graduate, Nitin has served on advisory boards/groups for the USC Viterbi School, NITI Aayog, AngelList India and TheBetterIndia.

Gowri Shankar leads the SaaS, AI and Deep Tech Verticals (Investments & Portfolio) at Antler in India. Prior to Antler, Gowri has a decade of deep experience in building and scaling internet businesses in India. He co-founded AllChemist (one of India’s first e-Pharmacy players), RoofandFloor (end-to-end real estate commerce platform) and STEP (English language testing platform) from scratch. He was part of the executive leadership team that scaled InMobi (largest independent Mobile advertising platform) and Medlife/Pharmeasy (e-Health market leader). He also transformed Cleartax’s (India’s largest SaaS platform) Enterprise/ B2B Business and set it up for scale.

Gowri received an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru where he was awarded the Chairman’s Gold Medal.

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Yashveer leads Capital Formation and LP Engagements, and is an active member of the Investment Team at Antler India. Yashveer is a distinguished financial services leader and investor with nearly two decades of experience spanning fundraising, wealth management, asset management, private markets investing, asset allocation, and corporate banking. His unique strength lies in bridging the gap between capital allocators and asset managers - a 360-degree perspective invaluable to Antler and our LPs. Prior to Antler, he served as an Executive Director at Avendus, where he independently managed over $200M primarily in private market investments for UHNIs and family offices. He built on his earlier career in Corporate Banking at Kotak Mahindra Bank and RBL Bank, where he specialized in structuring credit solutions and built a portfolio of over $250M.He is a long-term personal investor, having backed high-growth private companies and navigated their journey to IPO across his portfolio. He has also invested in several top-tier VC funds. Yashveer is an alumnus of NMIMS, Mumbai, and Army Institute of Technology, Pune, and has also completed Level II of the CFA Program.

Jasnoor Gill is Director Investments at Antler India, focusing on AI, SaaS and DeepTech. A seasoned operator, he has over 14 years of Product Management experience in the enterprise software space. In his last full-time role, Jasnoor was the global product lead for Nutanix’s second biggest product line, a $X00M+ ARR business. Prior to Nutanix, he was the Product lead at Calm.io, a devops automation platform (acquired by Nutanix), and also held Product Management roles at Zynga and Aryaka Networks. He began his career as a developer at BMC Software, working on Disaster Recovery for databases across multiple flavors of Unix.

A strong advocate for building global businesses from India, Jasnoor is an alumnus of Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and Army Institute of Technology, Pune.

Afroz is the Head of Finance & Legal at Antler India. He brings over 18 years of experience across venture capital, start-ups, and global corporates, with a strong track record in building high-performing teams, driving operational excellence, and partnering with founders to scale businesses. Prior to joining Antler India, Afroz was with Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India), where he managed complex cross-border fund structures and led fund operations, investor relations, and regulatory compliance, while spearheading fundraises and key exit transactions - from M&As to IPOs. Earlier, he led finance growth initiatives at Fork Media, built FP&A and market-entry frameworks at Nielsen, and advised global clients on cross-border tax at KPMG. Afroz is a Chartered Accountant with an All India Rank and a CFA Level III pass-out.

Reetik works as an Investment Manager with Antler India. He focuses on Investments, where he builds thesis & identify trends in the market, performs due diligence on companies and makes investment recommendations.

Sankalp works as an Investment Manager with Antler India. He focuses on building our founder network and identifying super passionate founders building for the future. Prior to this, he spent 5 years working with LocoNav in multiple leadership roles across Operations and Strategy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata.

Raghav is a Senior Manager at Antler India. He focuses on Investments & Portfolio in Consumer, Health and Brands with an added focus on AI.

Previously, he's been an AI engineer with Rapido & Avaamo, funded founder with an exit, and an investor at EF, a London based fund. He sold his startup, Habbit, to Alippo, backed by Blume Ventures. He's done his Bachelors in CS and Masters in Economics from BITS Pilani, Goa.

Raghav loves everything health, sports and travel. Outside work, you can find him playing padel, diving in the ocean or enjoying an ice bath.

Ojasvi is the part of the portfolio team at Antler India. Previously, he was working closely with two early stage startups in product management & fundraising.

Divita is part of Antler India’s Consumer & Health verticals, working across new investments and portfolio support. Prior to Antler, she helped build the 0–1 of LBB’s e-commerce marketplace, ShopOnLBB, and founded a consumer startup. She is the author of two books, with the latest—described as India’s only living record of the COVID-19 pandemic—earning praise from literary veterans including Dr. Shashi Tharoor. Divita holds a BA in Economics & Finance from Ashoka University and an MBA from Masters’ Union.

Vignesh works as a Finance Associate at Antler India. Prior to joining Antler, Vignesh worked as an Analyst at Goldman Sachs. He is a qualified ACCA Affiliate, having obtained multiple global ranks in the process. He holds a Bachelor's degree from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore specialising in International Accounting and Finance.

Dravisha is the Community Lead at Antler India. Her strength lies in the cusp of growth, marketing, and community. She has led growth and marketing for community-led startups such as Basis and leap.club previously. She's also helped founders build successful startups in the 0 to 1 phase across SaaS, EdTech, MediaTech, and DeepTech in the past 5 years.

Raghav works as an Investment Associate at Antler India, focusing on the AI, SaaS, and DeepTech verticals. He brings 4 years of operator experience across AgriTech and Defence Tech startups, having worked in product, marketing, and business development roles through the 0-1 journey. He holds an MBA from HKUST Business School.

Himank is an Analyst at Antler India and focusses on FinTech Investments and Portfolio. He works across sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support—partnering with founders building the future of financial services.

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Renu is Executive Assistant to the Leadership at Antler India, supporting operations and leadership workflows. With extensive experience across United Breweries, HolidayIQ, Ascend Telecom and Reliance Infocomm she has worked closely with CXOs to manage high-stakes communication, board coordination, and cross-functional execution. She’s known for being the force behind the scenes - ensuring things move with speed, clarity, and precision.