"Investing in the world's most exceptional founders"
Antler is a global day-zero investor that backs exceptional founders before they have a company. Their signature concept is the 'founder spike'—they look for individuals with world-class strength in a specific area, whether that's deep domain expertise, technical brilliance, sales prowess, or unique market access. Average across the board is not enough; they seek the exceptional.
"We look for the spike—founders who are truly world-class at something relevant to their business."
Look for founders with world-class exceptional strength in a specific relevant area.
Antler invests early, often pre-idea. They need founders who persevere through challenges.
Seek founders who see something others don't—a non-obvious market opportunity.
Even starting local, the vision must include global potential and scalability.
Exceptional, world-class strength in a specific relevant area
Evidence of perseverance and overcoming obstacles
Unique, non-obvious insight about the market opportunity
Path to venture-scale outcomes
Team complementarity and alignment
Individual with world-class spike in a relevant domain, combined with grit and contrarian market insight
$100K-$250K pre-seed, follow-on up to $2M