Antler

This is your sign to finally quit that Notion doc titled "Startup ideas" 💡 Final call for founders: Antler’s Spring UK Residency kicks off on April 22nd — we're running our fast-track interview day to get you a decision on the day. We back people at day zero: ✅ Pre-idea ✅ Pre-product ✅ Pre-cofounder ✅ Pre-your parents understanding what you’re doing If you’ve got relentless drive, a spike in something exceptional, and the ambition to build a venture-backed company — let’s talk. You’ll spend 8 weeks building full-time, find a cofounder, and unlock £120k in investment from Antler to get to pre-seed faster. 📅 Final fast-track interviews happening 11th April 💥 Apply here: https://lu.ma/e92eu3w3 💬 Or DM me if you’re on the fence Let’s build. 🚀

Great to see portfolio company Synvect featured in Forbes as an example of the shift in VC focus from speculative tech, to startups solving real, tangible problems. Their work to combat mosquito-borne disease with an eco-friendly, scalable solution is exactly the kind of founder-led innovation the world needs more of. Read the article 👉 https://lnkd.in/e2McnA-y

99% of the opportunities in AI powered consumer tech are still untapped there’s so much hype about AI for code & image gen, but it seems like everyone is still just scratching the surface in terms of consumer use cases – here’s one of the examples I’ve built that I wish someone would have built as a standalone product  👇 I created a custom GPT where I’ve inputed all my data about my lifestyle, diet, exercise, supplementation, blood work, etc to guide my day to day – here are three takeaways just from the last week 1/ (low quality) bread has always made me feel sick – turns out it’s likely due to E282 (calcium propionate), a preservative common in bake-off supermarket bread but rarely used in real bakery bread – never again consuming low quality bread = problem gone 2/ I felt like I had a cold the day after consuming anything sugary – my GPT dug into it and explained it mimics a mini immune crash: glucose volatility → insulin spike → inflammatory cytokines → brain fog, chills and low energy, so it’s not “just in my head”— it is a biological stress response, and it gave me a protocol to prevent and bounce back from it 3/ I had knee pain after switching squat variations – my GPT broke it down instantly: not a sign of growth and something to endure, but early-stage patellar tendinopathy, it gave me a precision protocol — and instead of going back after a week and feeling the pain again, I’m rebuilding smarter tl;dr – the opportunities are massive – if you’re building in consumer AI – send me a volcano 🌋

𝐔𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 $7𝐌 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 Unravel has raised $7M in Series A funding, led by Nauta, with participation from Antler, Slingshot Ventures, Active Partners, Brook Bay Capital, LLC, Nodes Ventures, Upscalers and The Players Fund. The London-based startup is reimagining how we discover and book travel by combining TikTok-style short-form video with AI-powered booking to make finding unique experiences faster and easier than ever. This funding will fuel the next phase of growth as Unravel expands its London team and deepens its AI capabilities. Congratulations to Sunny Swetank, Abhimanyu Dasgupta, Vijay Anand and the team! Read more in Sky News 👉 https://lnkd.in/dycXgnzK

The way we build software is about to change — dramatically. Let me explain: 1️⃣ Today, software gets smarter through APIs and integrations. Think: Salesforce pulling in Gmail data. 2️⃣ With AI, software becomes more personalized — stitching together signals from those integrations. Salesforce now tailors recommendations using your inbox. 3️⃣ But what if software had access to everything you do — across apps, screens, and devices? Not just data from tools you connect, but a complete understanding of your digital context. This isn't just automation. It's a shift in paradigm: 🧠 From app-centric to user-centric software. 💡 From faster workflows to entirely new categories of products. 👉 That’s the future Kontext21 is building. I met Jan Mechtel, Claire（Liwen) Zhu, and Fernando Z. as individuals during our Antler residency — before Kontext21 even existed. They stood out immediately: bold, fast, and deeply technical. We were proud to be their first check. And today, we’re doubling down as they raise ~$1M in pre-seed funding. Why are we so excited? Because Kontext21 is tackling one of the deepest, oldest problems in software: your data doesn’t follow you. Work happens across a thousand tabs, tools, and touchpoints — but software stays siloed, brittle, and blind to the bigger picture. Kontext21 flips this on its head by turning the screen itself into an input. Their SDK captures real-time user context across platforms, enabling devs to build a new class of apps — from AI copilots and self-writing documentation to zero-effort compliance and ambient security. Big vision. Powerful tech. Product already in the wild. I couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead. Thanks for having me along for the ride, Fernando Z., Claire（Liwen) Zhu, and Jan Mechtel.

‼️Q1 Progress Report‼️ But more than that, this is an appreciation post for my incredible Antler team — especially Kaila J. Lim, our head of community and a true superwoman, without whom none of this would be possible. Buckle up, it’s a long one: 💥 We welcomed 200+ founders to our latest U.S. residency: over 70% deeply technical, representing 20+ nationalities — former Olympians, 2/3/4x exited founders, Emmy winners, veterans, PhDs, the NBA 2K world champion. The talent is unreal. 🦄 Our portfolio companies are thriving: Aleksandra Medina, Katrin Kaurov, Indy Sanders, Shashwat M., and Will Betteridge shared their wisdom with new residents; our most recently invested teams have received additional term sheets within months; nero is seeing 5x MoM revenue growth; Synvect was featured in Forbes; SymbyAI raised $2.1M to revolutionize science research; Evaluable AI was acquired by Google; Outbound Aerospace built a literal plane ✈️ — and flew it. The momentum is real. 🎉 We hosted: Tech Carnival with Bulletpitch at SXSW, Bio/Climate/Deep Tech Salon with Nucleate & Newlab, an AAPI Female Founders & Investors Evening with Microsoft for Startups, a workshop with Antler portco Lovable, a fireside chat with Jennifer Fleiss & Rachel Drori (founders of Rent The Runway & Daily Harvest), and even a 24-hour hackathon. The energy is unstoppable. There’s so much more I could highlight, but this exercise is a reminder to pause, reflect, and celebrate what’s achievable when surrounded by ambitious and relentlessly supportive A-players who never drop the ball. Gratitude to Kaila & my work fam. 🙏

great fun talking to Karen Tso on CNBC this morning about the holy Ts – TikTok, Trump and Tariffs before the upcoming announcement later today my takeaway from all this? this is the best time ever for us Europeans to build a big billion user consumer company in Europe – where we battle with over-regulation, but are far away from the issues of China and the US aim big 🌋

I love this energy! I love these people! I love these fresh ideas! 170+ new founding journeys - and every founder aiming to get further faster! The last weeks have been busy - we have plowed through 7,500+ founder applications. 170+ founders (just over 2%) are now in our residency in Munich, Berlin and Amsterdam. 45 nationalities, about half of them technical, more than half repeat founders - many exited. The community is buzzing - great new companies emerging - stay tuned! 🛼🛼

What happens when you put smart people in a room to discuss where opportunities will be for Vietnamese tech in 2025? A lot of fun, insightful and animated discussions. Big thanks to Thái Vân Linh, Binh Tran and Calvin Lam and everyone else who were there for sharing your thoughts as we launched Antler's take on the subject through our e-book Theory of Next: SEA. Link in the comments.

We're excited to announce the launch of our investment intelligence report: "Theory of Next: SEA" – a strategic playbook for founders looking to capitalize on Southeast Asia's unprecedented technological and economic transformation. 📊 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚, 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐍𝐨𝐰? Southeast Asia stands at a pivotal crossroads, with its $3.3 trillion economy creating a wealth of untapped startup opportunities. From Indonesia's position as the world's 4th largest consumer of generative AI to Malaysia's $86B commitment to AI-ready data centers, the region is primed for visionary founders who understand its unique dynamics. 🔍 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞? This meticulously researched report delivers: ✅ 20+ Emerging Spaces across AI/LLMs, Fintech, Enterprise, Consumer Tech, and Sustainability sectors ✅ Country-Specific Insights for Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia's unique ecosystems ✅ Practical Founder Playbooks for navigating market entry, regulatory landscapes, and scaling challenges ✅ Concrete Market Intelligence drawn from our investment theses and on-the-ground expertise 💡 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 At Antler, we've distilled our expertise from funding thousands of startups to identify the highest-potential venture opportunities emerging across the region. Whether you're brainstorming your next startup, seeking validation, or pivoting your current business, this report provides the strategic intelligence you need. 🚀 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞? Don't just participate in Southeast Asia's tech revolution—build the solutions that will define it. 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 👉 https://lnkd.in/eR6WRP6N