THE FIRST BELIEVERS IN
OBSESSED OUTLIERS
At Antler we love being the earliest backers of your potential - way before its obvious. We're as obsessed as you are, and support you not just with capital, but also with the collective wisdom of our global network, and our deep sectoral expertise spanning decades across industries and economic cycles.
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BazaarNow — Everything Bharat needs in under 20 minutes, quick commerce for 450 million people.
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Armory — The Anduril of India, building indigenous sovereign defence from counter-drone systems up.
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Green Aero — The jet engine reinvented, 50% more efficient, designed in India from first principles.
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Aspera — India’s own Boeing. Autonomous amphibious aircraft flying cargo with no pilot, no airport.
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DusQ — A drug-free path to a calm restful sleep, built in India for a restless world.
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Dodge AI — Enterprise software that runs itself, freeing human expertise for the decisions that matter.
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InspeCity — A sky where no satellite is ever disposable, repaired while still in orbit.
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Navana.AI — Voice AI so every Indian is understood in their own language, all 22 of them, in over 40 dialects.
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HouseEazy — A home sold as simply as booking a flight, unlocking wealth for millions of homeowners.
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Dodo Payments — A two-person team in Jaipur, collecting payments from Jakarta to Berlin on day one.
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Freshcon — A home-cooked meal, from scratch, in ten minutes, convenience that makes families healthier.
We’ve helped put hundreds of founders on an early pathway to global success
#1
Most active A.I investor in India
115+
India portfolio companies
12,000+
Founders supported globally
27+
Offices worldwide
ANTLER INDIA
BACKS OBSESSED OUTLIERS AT DAY 0
Whether you’re just thinking about an idea, tinkering with a product, or have lauched something with a few early users, it's never too soon to get in touch. We work with founders at the earliest stages of their journey - you can talk to us directly, apply to our residency programs, or join a community initiative.
Antler Embark - Your Fastest path to US Traction
Embark is the only program designed to solve your toughest problem as an immigrant founder moving to the US: actual traction and PMF in the American market. We lead your $1M round and help you crack US GTM in just 3-6 months instead of 18.
The only program designed for...
- The mindset shift required by immigrant founders to create generational Silicon Valley companies. Through 1 year of effort, we've zoomed in on avoiding 14 big mistakes that even seasoned immigrant founders still make
- Significant US market traction at high speed. Co-working with a peer group and the Antler team at high intensity to hit escape velocity
- Embedding you deeply into the networks and culture that make Silicon Valley great. Step outside your comfort zone and into the whisper circles
"Embark is designed by a team that understands what it takes to win in the US. The 13 years I’ve spent in the US - including my time at an iconic venture platform like NEA - has made me acutely aware of which immigrant founders win and why, and what the bar for world-class greatness looks like. We’re bringing the collective wisdom of so many leading founders and operators to turbocharge Embark founders and give them the best launchpad to win in the US."
- Nitin Sharma, Partner, Antler India
Fastrack - Backing Teams Directly
We are the first believers in Obsessed Outliers, before its Obvious. Its never too early to talk to us and raise your first institutional round. Whether you're building for Bharat, or the World, crafting the next consumer breakout, reimagining fintech, or unlocking untapped enterprise value with AI - we would like to know your story, what keeps you up at night and what drives your obsession with it. We make decisions fast and lead your first $1M round.
Our current focus is on AI-first startups, still if you are building something exceptional in any field please do get in touch with us. Getting a mutual friend to refer you to us works even better.
Find cracked peers, join our Community
Antler's Before Day Zero is an invite-only community for India’s top talent preparing to launch their next big venture. If you’re a solo founder actively looking for a co-founder and/or are 3-6 months away from starting up - chasing a billion-dollar opportunity or tackling an overlooked problem in a bold new way - this is the perfect space for you. Connect with like-minded peers, spark meaningful conversations, and build a powerful network to fuel your entrepreneurial journey.
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The dream of building an Airbus from India is wildly ambitious, it's energizing to see someone share our delusion of making India the aerospace capital of the world. Antler is one of our earliest backers who believed in Aspera (and me) before anyone else.
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Antler is our first believer, and Nitin and team backed us when we had no traction - now we've expanded to over 4 cities with 1000s of orders. In an emerging, gold-rush category like quick commerce, it takes a certain special kind of courage to take a bet this early in the game.
Since the beginning Antler has been more than an investor. The Embark program really pushed our US GTM to the next level, and as we grew, a team of over 30 of us worked out of Antler for a few months before moving into our new office.
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The Antler team feels like an extension of one’s own team. I have some experience raising money before, but this is unique to Antler. They don't see you as investors, you are like their own team. Antler team understands how founders think about building as they’ve done it before.
Joining Antler’s Residency was a pivotal moment in my start-up journey even as a 2nd time founder (prev. Seniority). Not only did I meet my co-founder Anurag there, the vibrant ecosystem and Antler's hands-on approach also provided the fertile ground from which our venture, Kubo Care, blossomed. Antler's mentorship and network have been invaluable, and I'm grateful for the incredible support and the lasting impact they have had on our journey.
Antler portfolio companies raise further capital from leading VCs
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OUR TEAM
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Himank is an investor at Antler India and focusses on FinTech, Commerce & Mobility Investments and Portfolio. He works across sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support—partnering with founders building critical financial and mobility infrastructure.
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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.
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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.
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Anshul Tibrewala is Head of Marketing at Antler India, where he leads brand, content, partnerships and community, and works to make Antler the first partner founders think of on day zero. With 12+ years across consumer, SaaS and tech, he has led marketing, partnerships and growth mandates at McDonald's India, ABInBev and Sportskeeda, and in his agency years partnered on campaigns for Marico, Mondelez and Pepsi. Most recently he was co-founder at Snipe, a gamification products venture, which gives him a practical, day-zero view of what founders actually need.
Anshul is an alumnus of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
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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.
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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.
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FREQUENTLY —ASKED QUESTIONS
Yes! Around 50% of our investments so far have been made directly outside of the Residency or any other program. We understand that some founders don't need a program like the Residency and are ready to move faster.
Teams at the pre-launch, pre-product, or pre-revenue stage.
Antler is your first believer and institutional cheque. Our standard deal is up to ~$425K (~INR 4 crores) per company for 11% equity. We invest directly and through our Residency program.
Designed for exceptional founding teams:
- Chance to get 4Cr in investments upfront, for 11% equity, with an investment decision in just 3 weeks
- Perks: $1M in AI-Relevant Perks; Up to $4M in Total Perks
- Benefit from weekly office hours with Antler's GPs as well as a dedicated team, designed to rigorously stress-test venture scalability and validate your idea
- 2 Weeks of intense programming and 1-1 sessions with seasoned AI builders and operators who reveal their playbook across product, fundraise, GTM and more
- Get access to an exclusive office space in Bengaluru
Yes, our Residency takes place in-person in Bengaluru only for the first 2 weeks. It provides invaluable in-person access to mentorship, networking, and 1-1 collaborative sessions with other founders and top AI operators and builders. Founders are supported with a one-time INR 2L grant to cover expenses, complimentary office space, and access to over $1Mn worth of founder perks.
Founding teams looking to raise their first institutional round can secure an investment decision within 3 weeks.
Aspiring founders, experienced operators, and domain experts thinking seriously about launching a company in the near future.
Dedicated support around helping you find a co-founder, curated social and professional events, small group discussions, and access to resources that help you navigate the early steps of your startup journey.
No. This is an Antler-backed initiative designed to support founders before they take the plunge.
While investment isn’t guaranteed, we endeavour to invest in 50–75% of the teams that join.