Austin has a new venture capital firm, Antler, that is accepting applications for its first cohort, which is expected to kick off next month.
Tyler Norwood is a managing partner for Antler in the U.S. where he oversees the firm’s U.S. operations.
Antler will select about 30 founders to participate in the
Austin program which will last six weeks. After that, the founders will pitch
their ventures to Antler and the firm will decide whether to invest in them.
Antler invests in the pre-seed stage but it also can offer its portfolio companies follow-on capital as they grow and scale, up to Series C funding rounds.
What makes Antler unusual is that the firm invests in founders
with ideas. They don’t have to have a startup, Norwood said. He spoke recently
to Silicon Hills News on the Ideas to Invoices podcast about the firm’s local
plans.
Antler was founded in Singapore in 2017 as an early-stage VC
firm. It has raised $300 million to date and has invested in more than 350
companies globally since 2018. The company gets more than 50,000 applications
for its cohorts and only accepts less than 5 percent of them.
When selecting a founder, Norwood said he looks for founders who are curious, have a life-long love of learning, have a strong work ethic, and have integrity.
Antler also gets back to founders within 24 hours of applying
on its website. Norwood said Antler is receiving about 20 applications a day
for its Austin cohort. When the firm receives an application, he or his team
will contact the founder and set up an interview if they are interested in moving
forward. The firm is also industry agnostic. It is interested in founders who
are solving big problems in a variety of industries, Norwood said.
Antler’s portfolio companies span 30 different industries. And
40 percent of the companies have at least one female co-founder.
Investing in female founders makes financial sense, Norwood
said. Female founders bring a different perspective to business, and they have
valuable insights, he said.
And even though companies in the U.S. raised $621 billion, a record amount of venture capital in 2021, Norwood thinks there is still a frighteningly low number of founders starting a business. Antler fills a role in helping seed-stage companies launch, he said. Norwood wrote an essay on Medium outlining his thoughts about why the world needs more founders.
To apply for its Austin cohort, go to Antler.co. For more on the interview with Norwood listen to the entire podcast posted below or on Apple iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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