General Partner | Associate Partner - Africa, Nairobi

About Antler

Antler was recently ranked the world’s most active early-stage VC (Pitchbook, Q3 2023). Founded on the belief that people innovating is the key to building a better future, we work with founders across six continents to launch and scale high-potential startups that address meaningful opportunities and challenges. Knowing that exceptional founders can come from anywhere with any background, we have offices in 26 cities across the world, including Singapore, New York, London, Berlin, Stockholm, Bangalore, Jakarta, Nairobi, and soon Lagos. In total, Antler has $900 million AUM across its regional Pre-Seed funds and global Continuity fund (Antler Elevate).

As a Venture Builder and “day zero” investor, Antler backs the world’s most driven founders and individuals from the very beginning of their entrepreneurial journeys, offering co-founder matchmaking programs, deep business model validation, initial Pre-seed capital, expansion support, and follow-on funding until Series C. Fueled by a personal passion that goes beyond traditional investing, we have helped create and invested in more than 1,000 startups over the last five years, with the goal of backing more than 6,000 by 2030.

As the world presents an ever-increasing number of opportunities and challenges, founders are more needed than ever to address them. Join us to support them and help make progress inevitable!

The Antler Team

The Antler team comprises entrepreneurs and VC investors with strong track records of performance and achievement. The team has earlier built companies such as fashion e-commerce company Zalora, e-commerce marketplace Lazada, music streamer Spotify, VC firm Northzone, Airbnb, Uber, and others. Examples of Antler’s leadership team include:

Global Antler leadership:

• Magnus Grimeland, Global CEO: former co-founder of Zalora (exit to Global Fashion Group), former Norwegian Navy Seal and McKinsey Jr. Partner
• KC Agerup, Global CIO: co-founder of Hugin (SaaS company acquired by Euronext), and later co-founder of Northzone, a leading European VC that invested in Spotify and iZettle
• Andrea Hajdu-Howe, Head of Global Capital: former Executive Director at Goldman Sachs Investment Management and Senior Director at HSBC

Global Antler Continuity Fund Partners (Elevate):

• Martell Hardenberg, Antler Elevate GP (lead): co-founder of Lazada ($6bn exit to Alibaba)
• Teddy Himler, Antler Elevate GP (Africa lead): former investor at SoftBank, invested in e.g. Dialpad ($1.2bn valuation) and Tokopedia ($18bn valuation, merged with Grab)

Africa leadership team & Fund Partners:

• Marie Nielsen, Antler East Africa GP: former founder of Penda and McKinsey Jr. Partner
• Melalite Ayenew, Antler East Africa GP: former consultant at Bain & Co. and Princeton Consultants, Director at Oracle Africa

The General Partner and Associate Partner Roles - Antler Africa

Since the inception of Antler Nairobi in 2019, Antler’s Africa Fund I has invested in 25+ early-stage startups across the continent. During 2024, Antler plans to extend its operations to Lagos (Nigeria) and launch a larger Africa Fund II. To support this growth, we are looking for four additional outstanding individuals to join the Africa Fund leadership team as General Partners and/or Associate Partners, to be based in Lagos and Nairobi.

A General Partner or Associate Partner in Antler has the opportunity to have a transformative impact on the early-stage innovation ecosystem and be a part of building the next wave of fast-growing technology companies in Africa. If you are up for the challenge, we promise an incredible experience and an unparalleled opportunity to work with extremely motivated individuals, accomplished entrepreneurs, and founders of future startup successes.

Each Antler fund and team is structured as a local partnership with a high degree of independence and autonomy. Each location is a startup in itself and requires high entrepreneurial drive, and the ability to build and manage an exceptionally strong team to deliver outstanding value to Antler’s investors, startup founders, and portfolio companies. The local fund leadership team builds out Antler’s presence, network, and impact independently, but with strong support from the global Antler network and team. As a General Partner or Associate Partner at Antler, you are also part of a global partnership and have the opportunity to take on global responsibilities to also help build Antler across the world.

Core Responsibilities 

• Build and lead an exceptional team: Antler GPs are responsible for building and running their own location and team, including program managers, recruiters, support staff, and others
• Raise the second Antler Africa Fund and support global fundraising efforts: Work with a global and local fundraising team of experienced partners to raise the second Africa fund, with capacity to back 75 portfolio companies over 4-5 years
• Invest in 15+ companies every year: Bring in the most ambitious and brilliant potential founders to Antler, and work with founding teams from day zero to build their companies from scratch. This includes building strong co-founding teams through Antler’s Venture Building programs, brainstorming new products and business models, and coaching and mentoring of teams to help speed up execution and growth
• Build early-stage African startup pipeline: Antler Africa, while known for its numerous Pre-seed investments from its Venture Building pipeline, also invests directly in early-stage startups formed independently of Antler (30% of current Antler portfolio), often where we know the founders or co-investors well. GPs and APs will develop this pipeline by leveraging their own networks to identify outstanding early-stage opportunities for the fund
• Drive thoughtful investment decisions: Drive the selection, due diligence, and presentation of teams and founders for the Antler Investment Committee. The GPs of the African fund are collectively responsible for all investment decisions of the fund
• Support portfolio companies to achieve success: Build a deep network in the VC, angel, and strategic partner ecosystems, to support the growth of the portfolio companies and help close following funding. In later rounds, support founders in strategy and tactics, as well as use the Antler network to introduce them to customers, employees, advisors, and other supporters
• Invest in follow-on breakout successes and manage exits: Identify the highest-potential startups where Antler will be increasing its ownership stake successively, and manage potential exits over the lifetime of the fund

Core Expertise

• Demonstrated spikes in either: 
  • Early-phase startup/founder experience - having founded or been a very early employee of a fast-growing successful technology company with direct operational scale-up experience and expertise, or 
  • Significant experience in early-stage venture capital - with a track record of leading investments in the Pre-seed or Seed stages
• Deep networks in the local founder, VC, and angel investor ecosystems, preferably in East/West Africa
• Deep understanding and interest in current and emerging technology trends, particularly with nuances relevant to Africa
• Prior experience leading teams and individuals, having excelled in high-paced and challenging environments. Proven experience in successfully managing complicated projects
• Minimum 10 years of professional work experience

Core Attributes 

• Exceptional leadership – identifies, attracts, develops, and retains high-quality teams
• Accomplished and structured problem-solver
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Independent and proactive with a focus on execution and results orientation 
• Comfortable with ambiguity, quick changes, tight deadlines, and moving targets
• A genuine passion for entrepreneurship and a belief the world needs more change-makers and innovators

Locations 

• Lagos, Nigeria
• Nairobi, Kenya

The Antler Proposition 

• Create a legacy and have a large impact - Join us in building disruptive companies that will define the next wave of tech in Africa and beyond
• An opportunity to change the lives of hundreds of individuals about to turn into entrepreneurs
• An opportunity to build a high-volume investment track record both in early-stage companies and also in the later stages
• An opportunity to greatly impact the direction and success of Antler globally
• Competitive salary, combined with fund carry
• Participation in the broader enterprise upside from the global Antler profit pool