Yep, you read that right. The early-stage VC firm pumped $5.1M in pre-seed funding into 37 startups. The startups span across 19 sectors, including AI, B2B SaaS, fintech, and healthcare, among others. 

Tech trends? In a statement, they highlighted the shift to verticalized AI, the rise of Industry 4.0 in SEA, and the new wave of startups building hyperlocal products with global scalability as new tech trends in the region.

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💿 Waves in AI

As AI develops, more startups turn their focus to making solutions for specific (vertical) industries like media, customer management, and LLM integration. 

Antler invested in 12 vertical AI startups, including:

• CapGo is a tool for market research that deploys AI agents for fast and autonomous data acquisition.
• ZOLO, an AI assistant for food suppliers to manage orders from WhatsApp to their back office systems.

Others. ReelBlend, EigenAI, RapidaAI, Emereg, Buildas, Lunash, SmartViz, Levit8, PingMi, and Cleve.

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📳 About Industry 4.0

Smart technology for better efficiency in construction, transportation, and healthcare? Yes, please. 

Here, 12 Industry 4.0 startups received $$$ from Antler.

• COEX is a centralized platform for construction firms to simplify project claims and bills of quantity management.
• Seafoody, which provides Malaysians an affordable way to access quality seafood. 

Others. Dash Electric, glorious, OmiConvo, AssetFindr, UniiD, Konstruksi.ai, XFLO, Barely Skin, Ternakin, and YOBO. 

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🌐 Thinking big

For 2024, startups are making hyperlocal solutions that are also globally scalable. Antler sees opportunities in the e-commerce, fintech, productivity, and travel sectors. 

• BorderDollar, a fintech offering cross-border trade finance for SMEs.
• Finna, which simplifies the end-to-end workflow of solopreneurs from managing customers and creating proposals to processing payments.

Others. Mailpass, flaex, Hybr1d, Naki, Spun, MessengerCo, Zappy, Upbrand, and Just Ping.

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Update: We corrected the article to say that Seafoody serves Malaysians.