Antler Disburses IDR 75 Billion Pre-Seed Funding to 37 Startups

Antler announces investment round pre seed worth $5,1 million (equivalent to IDR 75 billion) to 37 startups in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. Built portfolio Antler covers 19 sectors, starting from AI, SaaS, fintech, to healthtech. There are 7 Indonesian startups that received this funding, 6 of which are residency program graduates and 1 of which is a startup that received external funding.

This investment also marks Antler's initial commitment and footprint in Malaysia, as part of its strategic partnership with the Khazanah Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Antler also claims that this is a transaction investation pre seed the highest in a single funding round in Southeast Asia, demonstrating their commitment to supporting generations digital entrepreneur in this area.

Antler Asia Co-founder & Managing Partner Jussi Salovaara admits that there are still many potential early stage startups in Southeast Asia. This makes Antler consistently invest in early stage funding, especially in startups operating in the field of vertical AI (verticalized AI) and industry 4.0.

“Through this funding, we are trying to help the founder building a strong foundation for a sustainable business model, and driving long-term innovation in the broader global technology ecosystem," said Jussi.

Hypotheses in the field of AI

The development of AI will enter a new phase in 2024, especially as AI solutions will continue to be refined and adapted to the specific needs of each industry. We will see a bigger business shift towards verticalized AI, especially in the areas of media, customer management, and Large Language Model (LLM) integration. About 34% of the startups in Antler's investment portfolio in this round have leveraged power verticalized AI.

The Indonesian startups that were also invested on the basis of this hypothesis are Lunash, namely an AI-based solution to improve debt collection performance from upstream to downstream, from before credit goes bad to recovery.

Hypothesis in the field of industry 4.0

Apart from AI, Antler also focuses on industry 4.0 businesses. The hypothesis is that, although the Industry 3.0 era was initially driven by the manufacturing sector, its legacy technology now has great potential to transform change in all industrial sectors.

Its key principles, such as connectedness, data-driven decision making, and automation are now widely used in non-digital sectors such as construction, transportation, and healthcare. Around 34% of the startups in Antler's investment portfolio in this round are engaged in Industry 4.0.

A number of local startups in this field that Antler has invested in are DASH, AssetFindr, Kontak.AI, Ternakin, and YOBO. The following is a description of each startup:

• DASH: Environmentally friendly logistics solutions for business people, offering electric vehicle rentals to build the largest fleet of electric vehicles in Indonesia for delivery services on-demand.
• AssetFindr: A comprehensive asset maintenance ecosystem that provides real time insight, advanced risk management, and data-driven decision making.
• Construction.AI: SaaS solution for construction companies and contractors to create an efficient and efficient document workflow system quality control in a manner real-time.
• Livestock: IoT solution for fish farmers to increase productivity by optimizing pond utilization and increasing stock procurement efficiency.
• YOBO: Sales CRM and sales automation solutions that can identify high-value customers. Specifically for YOBO, this is external funding provided to Antler -- this startup does not participate in Antler's Residency Program.

Hypothesis for hyperlocal solutions

Furthermore, Antler is also focused on investing in Southeast Asian startups that build hyperlocal solutions with global scalability. With global digital economy growth estimated to reach $17,5 trillion by 2025, a new wave of startups is starting to emerge in Southeast Asia.

These startups develop digital products that meet hyperlocal needs in Southeast Asia – while retaining the potential to expand into global markets. There are many growth opportunities in sectors such as fintech, communications, business operations, and so on. Various solutions that are relevant to local conditions but can be expanded to the global community are being developed.

One of the Indonesian startups in this field that is also being invested is SPUN. They developed a permit creation and management platform for non-tourists, leveraging AI and automation to simplify and speed up the permit process for professional needs around the world.

“Indonesia's unique market dynamics offer great opportunities for startups. That's why we at Antler are committed to gathering the nation's best talents to build great work. We work together with the founder which is not only driven by capital (capital), but also a strong ambition to be part of a community of innovators and people with the same vision – who will make a real difference, both locally and globally," said Antler Indonesia Partner Agung Bezharie.