Antler India to double its investment this year – SME News

Investment firm Antler India plans to double its investments this year (CY2024). The firm closed its first India-focused fund at ₹600 crore ($75 million) earlier this year. It has invested in around 63 startups from its corpus and plans to invest in 100-120 more by the end of this calendar year. It primarily invests in pre-seed startups and operates independently of its Singapore-based global entity.

Recently, Antler India led an $11 million pre-Series A funding round in Bengaluru-based ride-hailing startup Namma Yatri, along with Blume, with participation from Google. The company said that Namma Yatri aligns well with its core investment strategy, which focuses on supporting startups that build digital public infrastructure. Further explaining its bet on Namma Yatri, Nitin Sharma, Co-founder and Partner, Antler India said, “In the last 12 years, there has been only one business model in the urban mobility space. Very little innovation has happened. Namma Yatri’s business model is groundbreaking and we are happy that it is coming from India.”

Sharma co-heads Antler’s India business with Rajiv Srivatsa, co-founder of Urban Ladder.

“The business model is a new approach that takes into account the driver community. The team follows bazaar samaj sarkar model where it connects the community, government and business,” Sharma added. Namma Yatri follows a subscription model where it charges cab drivers a subscription fee for each day, unlike its rivals Ola, Uber and Swiggy-backed Rapido, which reportedly charge a commission of around 25-30% on each ride from their drivers in most markets.

Antler India is sector agnostic with a focus on SaaS, fintech and generative AI and startups building on large networks like Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Gen AI in edtech, senior care, pet care and lithium-ion alternatives are also some of the segments the company is closely looking at. Its key portfolio companies apart from Namma Yatri include Houseeazy, IndiaP2P, Inspecity, Apnibus and LogX.

Launched in India in 2020, it focuses on zero-day investing. “We call it zero-day because we invest in entrepreneurs who are just starting out, sometimes before there is traction, a team, or even before the idea is finalized,” he added. The company says it also enjoys the added benefit of having a global network when backing early-stage startups. “We have a presence in 30 locations across the world. This means that any founder who starts their journey with us in India can access the global network very quickly,” he said.