Magnus Grimeland – Lessons from Thousands of Antler Startups

Luminate with Lan Anh Vu

Today’s guest is Magnus Grimeland, founder and CEO of Antler, one of the world’s largest day zero investor. Antler’s pre-seed strategy canvasses 27 countries, more than 1000+ portfolio companies, 8,000+ founders, and over 100,000 annual applications.

Magnus previously co-founded Zalora, Southeast Asia’s largest fashion e-commerce company. It was later acquired by Global Fashion Group (GFG), where Magnus served as COO and Managing Director, rolling out the firm’s marketplace across 26 countries.

Magnus is an alumnus of Harvard University and McKinsey & Company, where he worked for six years. His last role at McKinsey & Co was as a Junior Partner, working across North America, Europe, and Asia in the global telecom, media, and high-tech industries.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Magnus’s journey from growing up in a farm countryside in Norway to building a global startup platform.
• What Magnus has learned reviewing thousands of applications to Antler
• The importance of finding founders with drive, spike, and grit
• The process for building the infrastructure for founders to solve important problems in the world
• What it feels like to find product-market fit