Global early-stage investor Antler has unveiled its 2025 Disrupt AI portfolio, committing a total of $5.6 million across 14 early-stage AI startups, according to an announcement.
These startups apply AI to sectors ranging from manufacturing and robotics to enterprise software, infrastructure reliability, energy optimisation and travel automation. Several of the portfolio companies have already begun serving customers across Asia, Europe and North America.
Antler said the Disrupt cohort represents a shift away from experimental AI use cases towards startups addressing concrete operational pain points. The companies were formed through Antler’s Disrupt 1 and Disrupt 2 cohorts, launched in Singapore in May and October 2025.
According to the firm, several of the startups are already generating six-figure revenues or have built multi-million-dollar sales pipelines, underscoring demand for applied AI solutions embedded directly within production and business systems.
“The most important signal today is not model size or fundraising volume. It is repeated usage,” said Winnie Khoo, partner at Antler.
Each company received an initial $400,000 cheque from Antler following a four-week Disrupt sprint, marking its first institutional capital.
Beyond the initial investment, the startups remain part of Antler’s broader portfolio, gaining access to ongoing operational support, investor introductions and follow-on funding opportunities through to Series C, as the firm positions itself as a long-term partner from validation to scale.
In August, Antler announced that it invested $7.4 million into startups across Southeast Asia during the first half of 2025. The Antler-funded startups in H1 2025 span key innovation hubs across Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia, according to a statement.
