Singapore-based VC firm Antler launches in South Korea

Antler, a global early-stage venture capital firm, announced its launch in South Korea. The company is looking to invest in 100 startups over four years from its new office.

Headquartered in Seoul, Antler’s Korean operations will be led by new partner Jiho Kang, who co-founded service marketplace Soomgo. The company will begin investing in local startups early next year, according to a statement.

Antler’s new partner Jiho Kang / Photo credit: Antler

Founded in Singapore, Antler has invested in over 300 technology startups across 16 locations worldwide. The VC firm has built its model around engaging with founders from a very early stage and has helped build companies with a range of tech products, services, and platforms in over 30 industries.

Antler is set to launch its inaugural South Korea cohort in early 2022. The program will run for six months with the aim of helping founders build the right teams. The VC firm will then invest in high-potential ideas from the cohort, helping teams scale their businesses.

According to Kang, the Covid-19 pandemic has presented new opportunities for startups in Korea.

“[Korea] is an extremely dense country, where you are able to physically go anywhere in the nation within four hours by high-speed rail. Therefore people are used to doing business in person,” he said. “The pandemic has prevented this, which is leading to many exciting things happening in the software-as-a-service, remote work, remote health, and delivery-related sectors.”

Korea is also witnessing continued disruption in more traditional businesses such as in the legal, finance, and energy domains, the new partner added.

Prior to joining Antler, Kang held leadership roles in tech giant SK Planet and ecommerce unicorn Coupang. He was also the first Korean to be have been accepted into the 500 Startups accelerator program in 2010.