Mr. Investor Realist Rajiv believes that a long road to recovery is expected but it also presents an opportune moment for driven founders to build solid companies

Things look turbulent on the late-stage side of things with public market turmoil," said Rajiv Srivatsa, partner, Antler India. News of layoffs, and hiring freezes have made the market unpredictable. Rajiv believes that at the early stage that Antler operates in, he predicts the funding momentum continuing in the next half of the year as well.

"There is capital that has been raised by early-stage VCs across the board and is ready to be deployed. Albeit with harder questions being asked, a push for a frugal and sustainable path to growth and rationalization of high valuations. This will only translate into better startups getting built," added Rajiv. Antler India continues to be 100 per cent focused on the pre-seed stage, enabling founders to build in the earliest stages of their entrepreneurial journey. Being sector and theme agnostic, Rajiv and Antler India are excited to back founders across Web 3, SaaS, Consumer Tech, Climate, Mental Health, FinTech, and other such categories that will shape the post-pandemic world globally.

India has been paving a path for many promising entrepreneurs in the past few years. Rajiv is of the opinion that Antler has work to do in terms of diversity in the backgrounds of founders and the kind of problem statements they are after.

"Bear markets send a negative signal to aspiring founders who will be more cautious before taking the leap, resulting in a decreased number of founders starting up. However, we see this as a true impact driving opportunity to expand the ecosystem, enabling and making entrepreneurship accessible for founders from a diverse range of backgrounds," commented Rajiv on bear markets in India.

Rajiv believes that a long road to recovery is expected but it also presents an opportune moment for driven founders to build solid companies.