Seasoned investor- Nitin Sharma joins Antler as Partner & Co-Lead for India

Antler, one of the world’s fastest growing early-stage VC platforms, welcomes Nitin Sharma, who is joining as a Partner and co-lead for all India efforts. To help accelerate the tremendous innovation and value creation in the Indian tech ecosystem, Antler aims to invest over US$100M in India across funds in the next 4 years. These funds will  support exceptional founders from the idea stage, all the way to Series A/B. Nitin will co-lead the India efforts with Rajiv Srivatsa, co-founder of Urban Ladder.

Nitin Sharma brings over a decade of experience in global venture capital, having invested in 

50+ tech startups in multiple geographies. Most recently, he was the founder of First Principles VC, a thesis-driven syndicate and portfolio of 35+ startups, including Fynd, (acq. by Reliance), OnJuno, Niki, Kutumb, SharesPost (acq. By Forge), XOKind and many others backed by marquee investors. Nitin’s investing journey has previously spanned US venture capital at NEA and being a founding team principal at Lightbox Ventures in India. 

“I’m very excited about taking my passionate work in early-stage investing to a global platform by joining forces with Antler. We look forward to continuing the “first principles” approach to investing with a focus on emerging themes, a global mindset and hands-on help.  

While opportunities in India are boundless, what has also become clear from my extensive work with founders is that a few key gaps persist especially at the seed and pre-seed stage: a truly global partner that can bring institutional resources and significant follow-on commitment even at the idea stage. This is exactly why Antler can fill the gaps and have a transformative impact. 

These strengths become even more important as we enter an era of “build from India, for the world”, something I am extremely excited about.I am particularly enthused about the opportunity to co-lead this with someone as inspiring as Rajiv. In addition, all FirstPrinciples portfolio startups will now have access to Antler’s vast global network, capital and resources.”

• Nitin Sharma

 “For the last several months, Nitin and I enjoyed working closely together to conceptualize a unique Antler program for new founders, which is getting a tremendous response from the market already. Nitin’s hands-on approach and international experience is immediately recognised by numerous founders in the market, and with our combination of an ex-founder and an investor working in tandem, we will help founders in India with a very rich set of perspectives. I couldn’t think of a stronger partner as we look forward to co-building an impactful institution with Antler India.”

• Rajiv Srivatsa, Co-Lead, Antler India

 “India is a priority market in Antler’s objective to create a world-changing impact. India is a hotbed of innovation and we are thrilled to double-down on the market with this leadership team. Nitin is a unique investor who has invested not just across multiple stages and economic cycles, but also ventured early in exciting areas like blockchain and digital assets. We look forward to his continuing impact in enabling exceptional founders from India’s digital economy, and also with new initiatives at the global level.”

• Magnus Grimeland, Founder and CEO, Antler 

 As an active seed and angel investor, Nitin has invested in startups like Fynd (acq. By Reliance), OnJuno, Niki, Kutumb, Klub, StayQrious, Gramophone, XOKind, Clinikk, Vyapar, Terra.do, Third Wave Coffee and SharesPost (acq. By Forge). In parallel, Nitin and his team founded a developer community called Incrypt, and have played an active role in fostering India’s emerging blockchain ecosystem via investing, education and national policy advisory. 

Previously, Nitin was a founding team principal at Lightbox Ventures, one of India’s leading consumer-focused VCs (now $400M under management), where he supported the first two funds since inception. Earlier in his career, Nitin learnt the ropes of venture investing in the US while at NEA, one of the world’s preeminent venture funds, where he invested in multiple companies (Millennial Media, AddThis, OPower, EverFi, etc.) with successful IPO and M&A outcomes, and also co-led the firm’s first edtech investment. 

Nitin was also an early executive at EverFi, one of the world's largest education networks, reaching 41 million learners, with $250M raised. He started his career as a technology investment banker at UBS in San Francisco. 

Nitin holds an MBA from The Wharton School, and two degrees from the University of Southern California. He serves on the India Advisory Boards of AngelList, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and TheBetterIndia, and has advised the Indian central government's policy think tank (NITI Aayog) on frontier tech policy making.