Private Equity International names Ros Bazany as Woman of Influence 2024

Read on to learn more about what prompted Radu to start RePack, what he’s learned about himself since becoming an entrepreneur, and how to hire top talent. Check out his tips on the startup recruitment process and how to maintain a healthy working relationship with your co-founder.

In Episode 21, we speak to Piers Linney, a British entrepreneur and investor well known for being a "dragon" on the BBC's business series Dragons' Den. Piers is also a content creator and keynote speaker focused on supporting individuals with ambitions to build a start-up, and is passionate about diversity and inclusion within the venture capital industry. In this episode, he shares his experience as a tech investor on BBC's Dragons' Den, doles out valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, and speaks passionately about the importance of making progress in diversity and inclusion within the technology entrepreneurship space.

Learn about what keeps Jessica motivated and inspired as a founder, and how she and her co-founder, Puteri Myrasandri, have built the startup culture of their dreams. Check out her tips on building an autonomous startup culture, and how to push through rejections, all while building a successful company.

In Episode 20, we speak to Renaud Visage, co-founder and former CTO of Eventbrite. Renaud has been at the helm and foundation of Eventbrite's technical architecture from its inception and has built it into the leading events platform of the world. Renaud is also an avid photographer, startup mentor and angel investor. In this episode, he shares how Eventbrite successfully and quickly pivoted to online events during the Covid-19 pandemic, his predictions for the future of hybrid events, and doles out valuable advice for entrepreneurs.

This article is for my fellow founders who are entering the journey of building a startup in the UK. We had many discussions on different slack channels and I eventually was asked to share my experience of pre-seed fundraising without having any revenue — something which takes far more effort in Britain than in the US.

The founders series takes a deep dive into the journey of Antler portfolio company founders and sheds light on the space they are building in. This week, we spoke to Shubham Gupta, Co-Founder of Ivory. Ivory is an employee engagement platform that harnesses anonymity to create transparency, empower collaboration and capture unheard risks.

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Longtime friends Marie Louise Sunde and Isabelle Ringnes have always been passionate about equality and the power of technology in solving some of the most pressing issues of our time. Inspired by Emma Watson's powerful speech for the #HeForShe campaign, they joined the very first Antler cohort in Stockholm to build Equality Check - a platform for reviews about culture, inclusion and equality in the workplace.

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This article is part of a new Antler Berlin content series called 'Call for Founders'. In this series, we will outline several exciting spaces in the local startup and VC ecosystem that we see as opportunities ripe for venture creation. These opportunities may emerge from an industry need, a trend, or indeed a prediction that we have had.

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The founders series takes a deep dive into the journey of Antler portfolio company founders and sheds light on the space they are building in. This week, we spoke to Josie Stoker, co-Founder of Capture. She and her co-founder Aziz Abdul have built an app to track carbon emissions.

Capture is a digital platform enabling organisations to mobilise one of their greatest assets in the fight for a sustainable future - their workforce. Through their app, integrations and dashboard, they run planet-friendly challenges and help companies live-monitor their CO2 savings.

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The global pandemic had a profound impact on the mental health of many, so now more than ever, it is crucial to be aware of and apply good mental health practices.

At Antler, mental health is an important topic not only during Mental Health Awareness Month or the World Mental Health Day but throughout the whole year. As such, we've compiled advice from some of our portfolio companies that are tackling mental health: Stockholm-based VoiceHER, London-based Blueheart and Kalda, Singapore-based Innade, and Berlin-based clare&me.

Here's what they had to say.

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Tim Fung is the co-founder and CEO of Airtasker, Australia's number one marketplace for local services.

Since its inception in 2012, Airtasker has gone on to enable more than $1 billion in working opportunities and acquired more than 4.3 million registered users. On top of that, in March 2021, Airtasker made its debut on the ASX and is now valued at $255 million.

During a virtual fireside chat, Antler Managing Partner Bede Moore spoke to Tim about his entrepreneurial experience thus far, Airtasker's growth to date, and advice he has for others looking to pursue a similar path.

In Episode 19, we speak to Simon Schmincke, General Partner at Creandum, a VC advisory firm with offices in Stockholm, San Francisco and Berlin. Spotify, Klarna and Kahoot are among their portfolio of companies across Europe and the US. Originally from Germany, Simon built three companies for Rocket Internet and was part of the founding team of FoodTech startups Foodpanda in Singapore and HelloFresh in the United States. In this episode, Simon talks about the fundamentally human side of venture capital, his ideal founder-investor relationship and the differences in consumer behaviour he has noticed while working and investing across Asia, Europe and America.

The founders series takes a deep dive into the journey of Antler portfolio company founders and sheds light on the space they are building in. This week, we spoke to Arun Sugumaran, co-Founder and CEO of ArtWallSt. ArtWallSt is a global exchange for art where anyone can become collectors, exhibitors and investors. In addition to bringing art closer to people through everyday physical spaces, the startup is currently developing a platform where blockchain-authenticated physical artworks can be traded on the platform.

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When we interview visionaries, we want to get to know them. The one thing we love is when they open up about their failures and hard times. When we feel tears coming up, we know we’re on the way to a beautiful story.

Katherine McConnell, Founder & CEO of Brighte shares her journey to building her startup, as well as how she’s been able to achieve 912% revenue growth over the past three years and built relationships with investors such as Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian.

I've been an active angel investor for about ten years now. Since we started Antler back in 2018 I've been part of many of our investment committees (IC) around the world. Every IC member and angel investor is different and will have different views on what makes a good investment. For me, there are three specific things I focus on when a team pitches to Antler for investment: The people, the product, and, of course, the potential.

The founders series takes a deep dive into the journey of Antler portfolio company founders and sheds light on the space they are building in. This week, we spoke to Sophie Jokelson, co-founder and CMO of Cove.

Cove is a coliving company putting renters first. They make it easier, faster and more flexible to rent comfortable homes at honest prices. Their flatshare rooms, studios and apartments are hand-picked in top city locations, thoughtfully furnished and include utilities. The bookings process is digital and hassle-free, and the community of 'Coveys' get access to a network of like-minded people as well as exclusive events and perks.

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I recently had the pleasure of speaking to a group of aspiring angel investors in Australia. The theme of the presentation was about evaluating products. During the discussion, we explored the different ways to assess a startup, ways to evaluate ideas and products, and some resources that can help you along the way.

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For episode 17, we speak to Colin Bryar, an early employee at Amazon and co-author of the book Working Backwards: Stories and Secrets from Inside Amazon. Colin joined Amazon's leadership team in 1998 - only four years after its inception. He worked side-by-side with Jeff Bezos as his Chief of Staff (and "Shadow") for 2 years. Colin was instrumental in bringing several Amazon businesses to life, including Kindle, Amazon Prime and Amazon Web Services. After Amazon, Colin relocated to Singapore and served as Chief Operating Officer of e-commerce giant RedMart, which was subsequently sold to Alibaba. In this episode, Colin discusses the importance of always having a customer-first mindset, the benefits of Amazon's unique narrative meeting culture, his key lessons for early-stage founders, and lots more.

In Episode 18, we speak to Nicole Quinn, General Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Lightspeed Ventures is an iconic Silicon Valley fund that has 10 billion dollars in assets under management. Nicole's focus is on early-stage consumer internet and fintech companies, with a portfolio that includes mental wellness app Calm, Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop, Lady Gaga's Haus Laboratories, cult shoe brand Rothy's, Zola and Girl Boss. Nicole talks about consumer behaviour that is going to stick post COVID, the incredible value of Influencer Marketing for customer acquisition, and shares her predictions for the next big trend in the consumer world.

In episode 16, we speak to Kevin Lin, co-founder of Twitch, the world's leading social video platform and community for gamers. Kevin led the Twitch team as COO for a decade before serving as Culture, Strategy, and Innovation Officer, following the company's staggering $970 million all-cash acquisition by Amazon. In this episode, he shares his origin story as an entrepreneur, tips for early-stage founders and advice on how to create a culture of transparency in your startup from the early days. How do you stay true to your identity and culture as your company scales rapidly? What's the secret to success when building remotely and gathering customer feedback? Tune in to find out.

Welcome to Antler's circles series, where we bring industry leaders, founders, and experts working in the same  sector together to problem solve, share emerging trends and technologies. Through this series, Antler will provide unparalleled access to closed room discussions around the challenges and opportunities experienced by those innovating at the forefront of the industry.

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The step from software engineer or senior architect to CTO can feel like a quantum leap. Knowing when to make the transition, and how, is often a barrier that prevents people from taking the leap sooner.

With that in mind, Antler recently hosted a CTO panel to share first-hand advice of those who have done it, with those who are aspiring to get there.

Bahadir embodies the purest definition of entrepreneurship. From his early days in Turkey to living in the States in his youth and suddenly taking the leap and emigrating to Singapore, he has never given up on his dream: having a Global impact and improving the lives of millions. He left us thinking that we all have a role to play and that it is never too late to start dreaming big and change the world. Besides living and breathing entrepreneurship, he is a philosopher at heart, and ended this interview with life lessons that will stay with us during our entrepreneurial journey!

A conversation with Tudor Mihailescu and Valentin Kassarnig, co-founders of SpeechifAI, Antler Amsterdam portfolio company.

The founder’s series takes a deep dive into the journey of Antler portfolio company founders and sheds light on the space they are building in. This week, we spoke to Mira Gleisberg, CEO & co-founder of RespiQ.

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We love our visionaries because of their captivating and provoking stories. A visionary is extraordinary because of his/her unparalleled level of energy and enthusiasm. Charlotte filled the room with joy and electric energy from the first second, making it impossible for us not to smile. Her positivity and drive were contagious and made us realize that inner fire is the most crucial trait anyone can possess. What a force of nature Charlotte is!

A conversation with Aleks Orlic, former co-founder of Penta

Welcome to Antler's circles series, where we bring industry leaders,  founders, and experts working in the same sector together to problem solve,  share emerging trends and technologies. Through this series, Antler will  provide unparalleled access to closed room discussions around the challenges  and opportunities experienced by those innovating at the forefront of the  industry.

Our team of venture capitalists, domain experts and entrepreneurs at Antler are always on the lookout for exceptional talent with the potential to build the defining companies of tomorrow. Read on to find out what we look for in a successful founder and how you can kickstart your entrepreneurial journey.

Working in venture capital offers insights into the problems, challenges, and new markets today’s entrepreneurs are addressing at the very earliest opportunity, a window on disruption and innovation. Business models are being redefined at an ever-quickening pace, and this is particularly visible in FinTech. We recently sat down with the founders of all of our FinTech investments with the following key learnings and insights.

Since 2017, Antler has created a distinct culture in the way it operates based on nine guiding principles. Women represent 42% of Antler's leadership team (including Partners, Associate Partners, and Directors), and we have over 30 nationalities represented in our 12 locations globally. Every Antler team member has a clear and easily identifiable strength --- the synergy of these diverse mindsets works really well together. Read about how we are striving to build this unique culture and how we apply it to thinking of diversity as a layered and multi-dimensional concept.

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Wisnu is one of the humblest of our visionaries. During our conversation, he never mentioned that he just raised $5 million or that his tools were used by 850,000 workers across Indonesia. Wisnu doesn’t care about impressive numbers; he simply wants to create a positive impact around him. The calm and optimistic energy surrounding him is magical and made us forget all our everyday life concerns.

Venture capital (VC) financing to startups founded by women exceeded $20 billion for the first time in 2019. This is up from $2 billion 10 years ago. Despite that, in Germany, just 16% of founders are female, while this number is steadily increasing, there is still much work to be done.

We invest in the defining companies of tomorrow. But we know it all starts with you. We help exceptional people build startups from the earliest stages. When you join Antler, you join a community of founders, get support from a global platform of experts, resources, and receive investments to scale your ideas.

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The founders series takes a deep dive into the journey of Antler portfolio company founders and sheds light on the space they are building in. This week, we spoke to Jiawen Ngeow, co-founder of DayOne.

DayOne is revolutionising offline operations for stores by providing a turnkey solution that optimises and streamlines frontline staff communication and collaboration. Their mission is to make offline businesses as easy to run as online ones.

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Following an investment of DKK 50 million into Antler's Nordic Fund from the Danish state's investment fund Vækstfonden, Antler is launching in Copenhagen to attract and support highly specialised founders from across the world and invest in the most promising 'green' companies of the future.

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We are delighted to welcome Karl-Christian Agerup as a Partner, focusing on the company’s investment operations and strategy Globally.

Antler welcomes Nitin Sharma, who is joining as a Partner and co-lead for all India efforts. To help accelerate the tremendous innovation and value creation in the Indian tech ecosystem, Antler aims to invest over US$100M in India across funds in the next 4 years. These funds will support exceptional founders from the idea stage, all the way to Series A/B. Nitin will co-lead the India efforts with Rajiv Srivatsa, co-founder of Urban Ladder.

Former Goldman Sachs Asia-Pacific CEO, Ken Hitchner, joins the Antler Global Advisory Board. He will also be the Co-Chair of the Greater China Advisory Committee.

In this article, we discuss the things that you should not be doing while dealing with investors.

In this episode we speak to Sten Tamkivi, the Chief Product Officer at Topia, where he builds products to break down the barriers between people and places. Prior to co-founding Teleport (acquired by Topia in 2017) he served at Skype as an early executive and played a key role in its transformation from a startup to a leading telecom player with 300 million active users and a whopping $8.5 billion exit to Microsoft. A native Estonian, Sten has entrepreneurship in his blood. He started his journey when he was just 18 by founding Estonia's first digital media agency.  

Starting a company is a big deal. At Antler, we believe in empowering entrepreneurial talent with the right tools to make an impact on the world. Here's a snapshot of what we look for in prospective founders.

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After 2,000 registrations, the world tuned in to hear from 13 local portfolio companies

The founders series takes a deep dive into the journey of Antler portfolio company founders and sheds light on the space they are building in. This month, we speak to Preet Gona and Alexis Zirah, co-founders of ARR Squared.

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Antler US portfolio company Werkit, which connects high-growth software companies to remote self-managed teams, received the Covid-19 Innovation Award from the Smart City Expo World Congress today. The Covid-19 Innovation Award recognizes companies that have contributed to the successful transformation, adaption, or response of the world's cities to the pandemic. Werkit has connected workers in Zambia to remote digital jobs, digital banking services, skill advancement assistance, and a virtual community of support throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Antler opens its office in Berlin to strengthen the local start-up ecosystem, promising pre-seed investment at unprecedented scale.Partners of the fund covering Germany and Central Europe are Alan Poensgen and Dr. Christoph Klink.

A typical pre-seed to seed fundraising process consists of the following steps: defining fundraising targets & timing, mapping target investors & fundraising materials, having first intros and coffee meetings, pitching to multiple investors, and finally, negotiating and signing.

Antler US portfolio company Casting Depot, the professional network for media and entertainment, is emerging as the industry's premier marketplace for all facets of the talent booking process. Co-founders Lacey Kaelani and Brad Larson have led Casting Depot through a 446% month over month increase in talent user growth. The Casting Depot team is working with Antler to drive user traction and refine their product offering as they field casting calls from industry players like Netflix, HBOMax, Twitch, Bumble, Verizon, and MTV.

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