VC firm Antler opens offices in Lisbon and Madrid
Sérgio Massano (partner and director of expansion at Antler) and Ricardo Batista (director, ex-Glovo and Lola Market) are the first members of Antler's Iberian team.
The Norwegian venture capital firm Antler arrives in Iberia, with the opening of offices in Lisbon and Madrid. It wants to make over 30 investments in this region by 2023. The Portuguese Sérgio Massano (partner and Antler’s expansion director) and Ricardo Batista (director, ex-Glovo and Lola Market) are the first members of the team.
“Antler’s model is distinctive because we are a very hands-on venture capital that is involved with the founders from the beginning and we want to apply that to the Iberian reality, taking advantage of the quality of talent and innovation that has grown exponentially in recent years in Portugal and Spain. We now want to help convert this knowledge into products and companies with a transformative impact on the economy and society,” says Sérgio Massano, quoted in a press release.
Antler’s simultaneous move into Portugal and Spain aims to create a “common infrastructure to support entrepreneurs,” maximising “the potential of these two technological hubs, which have had some of the fastest growth in Europe and are having a transformational impact on local economies.”
“Investment in startups in Portugal and Spain represents only 27% and 67%, respectively, of the average venture capital investment in the EU as a percentage of GDP, so there is still much to do to attract more investment to leverage the talent that exists in both countries,” highlights Antler’s director of expansion.
A global venture capital firm, Antler supports the creation, development and growth of startups and invests in entrepreneurs from the earliest stages.
Created in 2017 by Norwegian Magnus Grimeland, current CEO, the venture capital has a broad investor base, from Danish and Norwegian sovereign wealth funds to Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.
Today it is present on six continents, with investments in more than 500 companies, operating in over 30 sectors – including artificial intelligence, robotics, drones, fintech, proptech and healthtech – with founders of 70 nationalities.
