Antler injects US$1.4m into 14 startups from third Singapore programme

SINGAPORE-FOUNDED global startup generator Antler has invested US$1.4 million into 14 new companies from its third programme in Singapore.

Antler builds startups by identifying a group of aspiring entrepreneurs, matching them to form a team, and funding the team while supporting their product development and scaling efforts.

The third cohort comprised startups in sectors including healthtech, proptech, greentech and business-to-business software-as-a-service.

Out of 3,000 applications, 100 individuals comprising 30 nationalities were initially brought together for the programme. The founders had an average of eight years of working experience.

The startups in the cohort include Appboxo, a super app infrastructure platform, Capture, which helps users track carbon dioxide emissions, Goblin, which provides mobile developers visibility into app performance from a user's point-of-view, and Playy.World, a marketplace for trading card games and collectible toys.

Since the first programme in Singapore in 2018, Antler has generated 47 new tech companies originating from South-east Asia.

Startups from the first two Singapore cohorts have raised more than US$10 million in follow-on funding since finishing the Antler programme. The companies include co-living firm Cove, Indonesian on-demand job platform Sampingan, and robotics company Cognicept.

Globally, Antler has over 120 companies in its portfolio through its programmes in London, New York, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Sydney and Nairobi.

Antler announced on Monday that it has raised another US$50 million from investors, including Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. New backers include Norwegian privately-owned investment firms Kistefos and Canica International, as well as Japanese financial services company Credit Saison.