Antler India, the regional arm of the global early-stage venture capital firm, is looking to make around 35-40 investments this year, more than the 25 bets they had made in 2023, said Rajiv Srivatsa, partner at the firm.
Srivatsa expects the funding environment to take a turn for the better this year, after seeing over a year of slowing deals and cautious investors. “While generally the sentiment seems to be turning, it is still too soon to say because there are a variety of macro factors such as the elections. So it’s a bit of a wait and watch,” he said.
Antler has so far backed 50 startups in India, including companies such as Bookee, a software-as-a-service platform for fitness companies, Bold Finance, which offers credit against gold, intercity mobility platform ApniBus, social investing app Clubfolio and generative AI startup Hexo.AI.
Earlier in September, Antler India closed commitments of Rs 500 crore in its Rs 600-crore maiden pre-seed fund and is nearing its final close.
While the fund is largely sector agnostic, Srivatsa believes that startups working with AI and those building on India’s digital public infrastructure such as Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) or UPI, will be a big focus area for the fund.
The fund has so far invested in four such startups, who are building capabilities on the ONDC platform primarily to assist seller onboarding and bolster supply chains, and plans to invest in another 4-5 this year. For example, last year the company invested in a startup called Plotch.ai that helps large and mid-scale enterprises join ONDC.
As for AI, industry participants believe the sector is likely to see a surge of funding this year, even amid a weak environment. “I think there was a huge hype cycle for AI last year. When I say hype cycle, I mean the number of founders jumping on to AI was too much. This year, I think there is some filtering on this year and understanding what are the real areas in which you can build some of these companies,” Srivatsa said.
He also expects a surge of startup IPOs between this year and early next, as most of these companies have matured over the last two years of downturn and shifted gears to focus on profitability and efficiency.
