Antler India names the 19 students in its new fellowship

The India arm of global early-stage VC firm Antler has named the 19 student entrepreneurs that form its inaugural fellowship cohort.

Photo credit: Antler India

The Antler India Fellowship, launched in November 2021, aims to promote entrepreneurship at the university level as a possible career option for students. It offers an equity-free grant of US$20,000, mentorship services, and a peer network to turn the startup ideas of students into businesses.

Mentors for the fellowship include Little Black Book founder Suchita Salwan, Headout founder Varun Khona, and Quizizz founder Ankit Gupta, among others.

The fellowship received over 2,400 applications from students across the country, and the 19 chosen entrepreneurs have now formed eight new startups.

The inaugural Antler India fellowship cohort includes:

• Keerthan S and Monica Kumar of Blood51, a startup that provides blood testing kits that enables patients to get their blood test results in under 10 minutes.
• Akash Anand, Prajwal Prakash, Abhinav Hampiholi, and Gaurav Vaidya of Desklamp, a digital reading platform that helps users take notes, manage documents, and collaborate across teams.
• Vivek Kumar, Dayitva Goel, and Dev Churiwala of Liquibrium, a stablecoin exchange on the Tezos blockchain.
• Ameya Deshmukh, Simon Butler, and Karan Parsnani of NFTPhysicals, a cross-chain platform and marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
• Apoorva Singh of Qube, a platform that optimizes energy consumption for homes and businesses.
• Gaurav Panwar and Avinash Kumar of Tezz, a last-mile delivery startup that ships food bags for cattle, cows, and other domestic animals.
• Yuvan Arvind, Sayeeshwar Kumar, and Varun Sathyanarayanan of TickEth, an NFT ticketing platform for the entertainment industry.
• Arshia Mal, who created an unnamed online platform for social media influencers that help them create customized virtual storefronts to sell their pre-loved apparel, footwear, and accessories.

“We believe it’s the students of today who will build to address some of the toughest problems affecting us in the spaces of climate change, unlocking human potential, energy efficiency, and upcoming spaces such as the metaverse, blockchain, and Web3,” said Rajiv Srivatsa, partner at Antler India.

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