New Delhi, June 1 (IANS): Global early-stage venture capital firm Antler has announced its plans to launch its operations in India to enable more entrepreneurs to build startups through their platform.

The local operation will start in Bangalore and be led by Rajiv Srivatsa, co-founder of Urban Ladder, who is joining as partner, a statement by Antler said.

Antler plans to invest in up to 40 companies within its first year of operations in India through an India-dedicated fund and also has plans to expand to other major cities in India in the next three to five years.

Headquartered in Singapore, Antler already has a global presence in 11 locations around the world and has invested in over 160 technology companies.

"Antler is democratising entrepreneurship and works with exceptional founders regardless of background or geography. Over 40 per cent of Antler's portfolio has at least one female co-founder and their founders represent over 60 nationalities," it said

Magnus Grimeland, Founder and CEO of Antler said: "We believe the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem has massive potential. The quantity of exceptional talent, the ambition level of founders and the proliferation of high-quality venture capital and angel investors provides an incredible opportunity to build successful early-stage companies from scratch.

He said that Antler will lower the barriers for exceptional people to start a technology company, regardless of their background or geography.

Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner, Antler India said: "Today, India is at the stage where China was a decade ago. In the coming years, we have the potential to take this ecosystem into the next orbit and build 100s of world-class startups at scale."

Srivatsa added that Antler will launch an India fund and collaborate with the entire ecosystem including VCs, angel investors and work closely with corporate partners and functional specialists as mentors.

The inaugural India programme will kick off in Bengaluru in the second half of 2020, the statement said.

The Antler programme runs over a six-month period in two phases. The first phase is about building the right team with co-founders who have complementary skills. During this period, the Antler team pulls on resources and expertise from across the world to enable founders to validate their business ideas and build strong teams.

All founders receive a monthly stipend in the first phase of the programme. After the first phase of ten weeks, Antler invests in the strongest teams, who go on to the second phase to build and scale the startup.