Amid a sharp downturn in early-stage venture capital funding across Southeast Asia, Antler, a global early-stage VC firm headquartered in Singapore, has announced a US$7.4 million investment into startups across the region during the first half of 2025. The funding spans key innovation hubs including Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia, underscoring the region’s expanding pool of entrepreneurial talent and AI expertise. Notably, Antler allocated US$2.8 million to seven AI startups graduating from AI Disrupt—a new four-week, in-person residency program designed for teams with market-ready AI solutions and early customer traction. This initiative cements Antler’s standing as the world’s most active AI investor, following 74 AI-related investments globally in 2024.
AI Disrupt, based in Singapore, is tailored to accelerate high-potential AI ventures by enhancing their go-to-market strategies and technical capabilities. Each of the seven selected startups received US$400,000 in funding, alongside over US$650,000 worth of cloud computing, infrastructure, and tooling credits to boost their execution speed. The cohort includes Iris (no-code agents for workflow automation), Nugen (specialized AI for agent workflows), IndustrialMind.ai (AI for manufacturing optimization), Lambdai Space (AI-powered radar imaging for climate and insurance insights), Anamaya AI (corporate travel optimization), AppSecAI (automated application security), and 5.Y (AI-driven customer engagement in complex industries).
This investment comes at a challenging time for the region’s startup ecosystem, with seed funding down 68% year-on-year and overall early-stage investments dropping 53% in H1 2025. Despite the slowdown, Antler is doubling down on AI startups with strong growth potential, offering larger initial cheques and targeted scaling support. According to Antler Partner Winnie Khoo, AI founders today are moving “10x faster than just two years ago,” and programs like AI Disrupt are built to match that speed. Co-founder and Managing Partner Asia, Jussi Salovaara, emphasized that while Antler is now more selective, it is ready to back teams demonstrating compelling use cases and global ambitions.
Looking ahead, applications are open for the next AI Disrupt residency, scheduled to begin on October 21, 2025, in Singapore. The program will continue its mission to sharpen technical advantages and unlock go-to-market traction through targeted coaching, deep technical sessions, and investor readiness for AI-first companies.