Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.startupdaily.net
Nicola Forrest’s Coaxial Foundation has committed up to $30 million to a partnership with Antler, anchoring the VC’s third Australian fund and offering women founders up to $120,000 in grants without giving away equity.
Antler Australia Fund III is targeting a minimum of $70 million, with Coaxial committing $20 million under the Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership (ESVCLP) program. The fund will back both male and female founders. Antler said Coaxial’s fund commitment is on the same terms as other limited partners.
On top of that, up to $10 million will support women through grants, co-investments and operating costs.
Antler general partner Michael Kron said that includes $1 million over four years to give Antler’s team more resources to find and support female founders.
The initiative, Momentum powered by Coaxial, puts cash into businesses at two points where promising ideas can run out of runway.
Eligible women-founded companies will receive a $60,000 grant when Antler makes its initial investment. A second $60,000 grant becomes available at the next funding milestone, when an external investor steps up to underwrite the round.
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Coaxial will also pre-commit to funding 15% of that follow-on round, alongside Antler’s existing 33% commitment. Together, that would cover 48% of the round before the incoming investor’s contribution.
The grants do not dilute founders’ ownership; the investments are separate. Kron said companies securing Antler investment and reaching the next milestone could receive upwards of $1 million in support within their first 12 months.
Bridging the ‘Valley of Death’
The focus is the first two rounds, which Kron described as inception and pre-seed, helping founders get far enough to attract seed and Series A funding.
It’s often referred to as the “valley of death” – when the initial enthusiasm for a startup disappears. Women founders are especially vulnerable at this stage.
Kron said women were often undercapitalised at these early milestones, with the extra support intended to help more businesses survive long enough to raise again.
“The stages that this really applies to are where we see the biggest challenges of female founders, where they’re undercapitalised, where the through rates are most chronically underperforming,” he said.
Forrest said the partnership targets the shortage of early capital, networks and support.
“There is no shortage of talented, ambitious women in Australia,” she said.
“Antler has a strong history of successfully supporting founders from inception and as they scale, which is exactly the gap Coaxial wants to help close for Australian female founders.”
Antler says it has invested $19 million in 56 women-founded companies involving 66 women founders over its seven years in Australia. Those founders have raised $109 million, with a combined post-money valuation of $355 million.
Antler’s Australian impact in just seven years since launching here has been astonishing, with more than 23,000 applications to the program.
Kron said the portfolio gives the firm a reason to back more women.
“All-women founding teams outperform the rest of our portfolio, at 2.6 times our initial investment compared to 2.1 times for the fund as a whole,” he said.
Upcover co-founder and CEO Skye Theodorou said Antler backed her before she had a team or company.
“Momentum means the next founder gets the same shot, and she gets it without having to choose between her idea, her family and her income,” she said.
The partnership arrives as Kron describes a venture market increasingly split between the big cheques chasing AI and the investors doing the work of finding founders before they have much to show.
Asked about the flood of VC capital into AI, Kron said it was concentrating in a small number of Silicon Valley megafunds making momentum bets on AI.
At the other end, finding founders and backing new businesses was “a really, really hard place to raise”.
“Most of the capital and most of the activities are happening at the late stage and the big deals,” he said.
For founders, the shortage of capital makes fundraising itself an advantage over competitors.
“Sometimes, just being able to raise money is like a defensibility or moat in itself,” Kron said.
Being funded helps companies hire, build faster and attract the next cheque.
Asked about the federal governments proposed capital tax changes and startup carve-outs, Kron was optimistic about attracting more private wealth and family office investment in Australia, but said any unintended consequences could fall harder on founders already facing barriers.
“If there are unintended consequences, it’s likely to affect female founders more than male founders,” he said.
Kron remained upbeat about both Australia’s talent and capital efficiency, while suggesting policy changes could encourage companies to establish US parent companies sooner.
“It might stimulate the desire for companies to flip up overseas a little bit earlier in their journey,” he said.
The third fund follows on from the $77 million 2nd one launched in 2024. Antler Australia currently has a portfolio of more than 130 active startups.
