Magnus Grimeland, CEO and Founder of Antler
Antler plans to commit US$500K in funding for 5 startups addressing COVID-19 challenge
Antler announces that it will invest in up to five teams and deploy up to US$500,000 in funding for startups that address the COVID-19 challenge. The company opens the chance globally, inviting startups to propose solutions in mitigation (masks, contact tracing, surveillance, data infrastructure), medical equipment (test kits, protective devices, ventilators), remote health (telehealth, remote patient monitoring, symptom checkers) and digital tools (remote work, smart delivery, e-learning).
After a screening process, selected teams will be invited to a video pitch session. Following that, the finalists will pitch to Antler’s Investment Committee (IC) remotely.
The Investment criteria will take into account the relevance towards mitigating COVID-19, as well as how the startup works in a post-COVID-19 era.
Antler will help startups get their solutions off the ground and make them accessible to those who need them as quickly as possible. The call is open until April 15.
Accelerating Asia launches Gender Advisory Group (GAC) to provide strategic advice on gender initiatives
Accelerating Asia announces that it plans to recognise the impact of women in the tech ecosystem by maintaining 40 per cent of its portfolio with female-led ventures.
Also Read: Accelerating Asia unveils new cohort of 10 startups with over 40% female co-founders
A few female-led ventures in its latest cohort startups include:
Joni.ai, an AI-powered adaptive assessment platform that personalises education and helps students to make sense of their learning data.
Priyoshop, an e-commerce platform enabling small town micro-entrepreneurs to sell a wide selection of authentic products to customers without having to invest in working capital stock and get access to affordable financing.
Recyglo, a waste management platform that provides circular economy, zero waste management, traceability, monitoring and analytics and recycling solutions in ASEAN.
Romoni, a one-stop destination of beauty and lifestyle needs of women and a credit facilitation platform for micro and women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.
With this GAC initiative, Accelerating Asia strengthens its commitment to building its cohort startups with 50 per cent women founders. Accelerating Asia’s applications for Cohort 3 is open until May 17.
Aerodyne strips interest in Danish wind turbine inspection company
Aerodyne Group announced that it has stripped its interest in Danish company AtSite, formerly Aerodyne AtSite, by selling its stake back to AtSite’s original shareholders Rene Merrild Holding Aps and Obling Rasmussen Holding Aps.
Also Read: Malaysia’s Aerodyne forays into US with the acquisition of drone inspection firm Measure
Elaborating on the divestment, Aerodyne’s Founder and CEO Kamarul A Muhamed said, “Aerodyne’s global expansion strategy places it in 25 countries around the world with international partners and companies that are able to cover all industry verticals. Now, after two years, we are looking to realign our objectives moving forward to our overall strategic blueprint, and as such, a divestment was the clear path forward.”
This divestment allows Aerodyne to better focus its resources to support its rapid scale-up strategy globally across all verticals it operates in.
Malaysia’s MVCA provides Startup Support Squad for advisory support
MVCA (Malaysia Venture Capital & Private Equity Association), an industry platform to support venture and private equity investments in the region, announces “Startup Support Squad’ initiative. It is designed to bring expert business and financial advisory to startups that are struggling with the sudden freeze in business activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Digital News Asia, four venture capital firms, Vynn Capital, Cradle Seed Ventures, Kejora Ventures Malaysia, as well as RHL Ventures have been summoned by the MVCA to provide support to entrepreneurs and companies who have business operations in Malaysia.
The four VC firms will be providing advisory input on matters with regards to business operations and sustenance as well as areas around financing and fundraising.
MVCA said that the global recession will mean that more SMEs and startups will not be able to survive the downswing. As such, MVCA hopes to also help bring more knowledge and value to local businesses and attract overseas opportunities into the country.
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Image Credit: Antler
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