Antler has invested US$7.4 million in startups across Southeast Asia in the first half of 2025, including US$2.8 million for seven companies through its new AI Disrupt residency in Singapore.
The H1 deployment spans Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
Antler said it led 74 AI investments globally in 2024, describing itself as the world’s most active AI investor.
The four-week, in-person program targets early-stage teams with an MVP and live customers, providing capital and AI-focused technical resources to accelerate go-to-market strategies and scalability.
The selected startups are Iris, Nugen, IndustrialMind.ai, Lambdai Space, Anamaya AI, AppSecAI, and 5.Y (GLUCOSE), offering solutions that include workflow automation, specialised AI agents, manufacturing intelligence, radar imaging for climate and insurance insights, corporate travel optimisation, application security automation, and personalised customer engagement.
Each received US$400,000 in funding and over US$650,000 in AI-focused cloud computing, infrastructure, and tooling credits.
The funding comes amid a challenging environment in Southeast Asia, where seed funding fell 68% year-on-year and overall early-stage investment dropped 53% in the first half of 2025.
Antler said it is providing larger initial checks and targeted support to help selected AI startups scale despite tougher fundraising conditions.
Applications are now open for the next AI Disrupt residency, which begins in Singapore on 21 October 2025, and will feature targeted coaching, deep technical sessions with ecosystem partners, and investor preparation for AI-first teams.
Winnie Khoo, Partner at Antler, said,
“With the speed of product development made possible through technology today, we are matching that with our support to founders and investment into startups.
AI startups are moving 10x faster than just 2 years ago, and AI Disrupt is purpose-built for founders with market-validated products to move and scale much faster. These AI founders do not wait. Moving aggressively is a moat that founders can gain in the AI age.”
Jussi Salovaara, Co-founder and Managing Partner Asia at Antler, added,
“The current funding landscape across Southeast Asia in early 2025 demands that founders be sharper than ever in both their approach and execution. We are prepared to match their speed and provide flexible early capital that enables them to accelerate, but we are also more selective.
Once a team can demonstrate a compelling use case for their technology and the ambition to scale globally, we will back them with conviction.”
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by thanyakij-12 via Freepik
