Antler scales up its portfolio with $425 million fund for later-stage startups

Startup accelerator Antler has announced a new $452 million ‘Elevate’ fund designed to take its investments beyond the early-stage startup phase through to Series C.

Started in Singapore in 2015, it now has offices globally, with its Australian branch launching in 2019. The program pays aspiring entrepreneurs to quit their jobs to work on a new business over the course of ten weeks, with the most promising receiving further funding.

Unlike most VC firms that invest in businesses with proven chops, its bread and butter has generally been providing support to startups from day zero.

The firm expanded beyond this in 2020 with its first $46 million Australian fund which also invested in non-Antler cohort startups.

Antler scales up

Antler Elevate will take this to the next level, with investment beyond the early stages of a startup’s journey.

“Antler Elevate invests in remarkable founders beyond day zero — providing scale-up capital from Series A onwards for companies that have ambitious mindsets, show strong signs of product-market fit, and demonstrate compounding growth,” an Antler blog post reads.

“Some of these companies were supported in Antler’s early-stage funds, which cover 20+ ecosystems. Others are startups new to the portfolio, having raised seed investments outside Antler’s early-stage funds.”

Antler Elevate has already invested US$70 million into over 30 companies, including Airalo and Earlytrade.

While overall startup funding is still in a precarious position due to continued economic turmoil, this move perhaps makes sense at the current stage of Antler’s journey.

Eight years in — and four for the Australian sector — it has had time to mature and grow, as have many of its alumni.

Grads of the accelerator such as Pathzero, Urban Swan, Mys Tyler and Sortd have all gone on to receive funding. And within a year of being part of the accelerator, SaaS platform Hudled hit $134 million in transactions.

December 2021 saw the accelerator’s first Australian exit, with BNPL startup QuickaPay being acquired by payment platform RapidPay.

There have even been awards on the table, with RecycleSmart taking out the ‘sustainability’ category in Fishburner’s Tech For Good awards in 2022.

“Our mission at Antler is to be a long-term partner for the founders we work with, supporting them with capital, talent, mentorship, and network all the way from day zero to exit. Antler Elevate is a natural progression for Antler as our portfolio expands,” Martell Hardenberg, partner at Antler, said.

“It enables us to offer continued support throughout the growth journey of exciting companies globally, extending our support beyond the Seed stage up to Series C.

Fast-growing businesses require significant capital, and having a committed partner like Antler is instrumental in financing their ongoing growth. To do this, we are leveraging Antler’s 25-office localised footprint and data-driven knowledge base to source investment opportunities at scale.”

Still dedicated to early-stage startups

But this addition to its funding portfolio doesn’t mean that Antler has lost its roots.

In October 2022 its Australian branch was seeking interest in a new minimum-close $60 million fund for early-stage startups. And according to Antler, it’s close to hitting its financial goal.

Cath Rogers, partner at Antler Australia, told SmartCompany that the fund will be used to invest in 120 companies. This will include 100 from the Antler cohort, as well as an additional 20 early-stage businesses. Antler expects “significant follow-on support” with 40% of investible capital held for follow-on investments.

“With initial investments in Australia Fund I companies now complete, Antler Australia is raising its second fund to continue to invest in more opportunities and support the creation of fast-growing startups. Similar to Fund I, Fund II will support Australian early-stage tech companies with high-growth potential,” Rogers said in an email to SmartCompany.

There’s also nothing stopping Antlers’ Aussie cohorts from going on to be supported by Elevate.

Drag-and-drop tool, Upflowy, received an initial investment from Antler Australia before being supported by Elevate in later funding rounds. The startup also received $6.6 million in 2021 in a round led by San Francisco’s Counterpart Ventures.

When asked if Antler Australia has a particular focus for startups it wants to invest in going forward, Rogers said that “all our investments are sector-agnostic and purpose-driven.”

“That being said, ESG is a strong focus for Antler and we have many high-performing portfolio companies that are defined as impact ventures addressing key global and societal issues.”

Rogers cited Saasguru, Lived and Vyro as some of the startups that are working in this space.

“As a VC, we believe it’s our responsibility to ensure that the next wave of technology leaders have sustainable value creation as a core business objective from the outset. As such we have integrated ESG and impact into our investment decisions and when working with companies, help them lay the groundwork for building sustainable and resilient businesses from inception.”