Antler, a global early-stage venture capital firm with strong presence in Indonesia, said Wednesday it will continue its commitment to support aspiring founders and early-stage teams by providing backing from day zero along with a goal to invest in over 30 Indonesian startups in 2023.
In a statement, Antler said it has invested in 25 local startups since launching here in 2022.
As a sector-agnostic investor, Antler Indonesia’s portfolio consists of companies from 16 different industries solving the most challenging problems in Indonesia.
Among those startups are health tech companies CareNow and Healthpro, edtech Academix and Eduku, Direct To Consumer (DTC) brands like BASE, as well as fintech companies like Brick and companies in additional areas like sustainability, software as a service (SaaS) and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) empowerment.
The firm has also announced the launch of its upcoming founder residency program for Indonesian startups.
To be held in Jakarta, the program will commence in June 2023 and is now open for applications.
Pre-idea and pre-seed founders are encouraged to apply even if they haven’t formed a team yet.
During the program, founders will have access to a vibrant community of business leaders, experienced operators and tech builders—allowing them to connect with potential co-founders.
“We invest from Day Zero and keep backing our companies as they progress throughout their journey. This starts from forming their teams, developing an idea, securing initial
capital and continues with winning their first 100 customers, expanding to new markets or product lines, raising capital, and more,
“Our companies scale faster thanks to our mentoring, truly global community of founders, advisors and investors, as well as our local presence in 25+ markets we operate in,” said Markus Bruderer, Partner at Antler Indonesia.
BASE, a direct-to-consumer beauty and wellness startup that originated from the Antler programme, recently raised $6 million in a Series A funding round.
Its Founder and Chief Executive Officer Yaumi Fauziah Sugiharta said that joining the program helped the firm a lot in terms of validating the market and the pinch points from potential consumers and identifying the minimum viable product.
“Also, the Antler programme exposes Indonesian startups to regional startups and mentors and this is very valuable to Founders like us at an early stage,” he added.
Since launching in Indonesia, Antler has received more than 4,000 applicants within its first year, showing a high interest in growth from local founders.
Notable names in the startup and tech scene such as Blue Bird Indonesia Chief Executive Officer Noni Purnomo, Sociolla Co-Founder Christopher Madiam and Good Doctor Indonesia Chief Executive Officer Danu Wicaksana are among mentors who share their expertise and industry best practices at Antler.
Kanta Nandana, Antler Indonesia Program Director said, the firm’s mission is to support founders from the very beginning of their entrepreneurial journey.
According to him, Antler Indonesia is a place where Indonesia’s top entrepreneurs, industry experts, experienced operators and great technologists meet to build their next company.
“Through an intensive ten-weeks program, Antler also support founders to find most impactful problems and validate business models,
“Due to our deep understanding of Indonesia and access to the region, our companies are able to access an excellent pool of mentors, capital and markets,” he added.
Cited Startup Ranking, Antler said Indonesia has the highest number of startups in Southeast Asia and sixth globally at about 2,500 companies in February 2023, making Indonesia a breeding ground for fresh ideas and a proof point that the country has a growing digital economy.
Antler is a global early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the defining technology companies of tomorrow.
The firm has offices in 25 cities worldwide, across six continents including Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, New York, London, Berlin, Stockholm, Bangalore, Seoul, Tokyo, Sydney, and more.
Since its launch in 2018, Antler has invested in and helped build over 750 companies.
