Antler India, the Indian arm of global venture capital firm, has announced a new venture deal construct called ARC (Agreement for Rolling Capital) to double its commitment to early-stage start-ups
The new standard deal applies to all start-ups invested via the Antler Residency in India. With the new construct, Antler plans to commit $10 million to 20 new Indian start-ups in the next 6 months.
Through ARC, Antler commits to investing up to $500,000 (₹4 crore) in idea-stage companies, on a rolling basis. The first cheque is a $250,000 (₹2 crore) pre-seed investment, the team’s first institutional capital, often purely at a concept stage, without the requirement of a product or traction.
After that initial investment, Antler will also commit to investing an additional amount of up to $250,000 in the next 9 months, matching 50 per cent of the funds raised by the start-up from external accredited investors.
ARC aims to enable start-ups from concept to over $1 million of capital raise within 9-12 months, while being in a founder-friendly construct when it comes to dilution.
In this period, founders will also receive extensive support from Antler’s dedicated portfolio support platform, to reach their growth milestones.
“ARC is a first-of-its-kind venture deal construct designed for the Indian founders to deliver flexibility, more capital for execution, and a solid support platform to get to the next stage faster. We have seen a strong correlation between increased and faster early-stage capital and the path to Series A. The fundamental philosophy behind ARC was to design an instrument that enables exceptional founders to raise more capital upfront, allowing them to make rapid progress toward PMF while managing dilution and encouraging effective use of capital,” said Nitin Sharma, Partner at Antler in India.
Antler’s ARC can be exercised on a rolling basis for any external capital (excluding friends and family and down-rounds) raised within 9 months of the term sheet signing.
Typically, founders will be able to raise additional capital of $750,000 (or more), comprising $500,000 from external investors plus $250,000 from Antler via ARC at the latest valuation, totalling $1 million in the first year of the company’s journey.
Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner at Antler in India, added: “We work closely with our portfolio companies to help them scale more effectively and rapidly, and ARC is one of the key initiatives supporting this goal. Antler Forward is a dedicated 12-week boot camp to drive post-investment execution intensity. Portfolio companies participate in Antler Forward to access industry-best advisors, company-specific workshops, and office hours with experts – all designed to accelerate toward early PMF. Antler Spotlight offers a platform for founders to showcase their companies and connect with hundreds of potential top-tier investors. With constructs like ARC, Forward, and Spotlight, we are supporting exceptional Indian founders with not just capital but also a platform that increases the odds of success from Day Zero.”
With a $75-million fund, Antler has already backed 65 start-ups across SaaS, fintech, and consumer tech, as well as in emerging sectors like AI, ONDC, climate, and Web3 infrastructure, among others.