Transforming frustration into innovation: Why I Joined Antler

A Conversation with Maveen, an experienced software engineer and cofounder of 913.ai

Transforming frustration into innovation: Why I Joined Antler

Can you tell us about yourself and your background?

I was born in Kashmir, India, and studied computer science in Cardiff for three years. During my final year, I made the bold decision to drop out and work as a software engineer in London. After that, I continued my journey as a software engineer at various startups in Munich and Berlin.

Why did you choose to start your journey as an entrepreneur?

Honestly, entrepreneurship was never on my radar. I’ve always enjoyed building things, but it wasn’t until I took some time to explore that I decided I wanted to build something of my own. Working for a company often limits you to specific problems, which can hold back innovation. I wanted to tackle real challenges and discover new solutions. That’s when I joined a co-founder matching event, which became a turning point in my journey. It was there that I met Immo, my co-founder, and together, we began to turn our aspirations into reality

Tell us a bit more about the problem that you are setting out to solve and how you are solving it.

After connecting with Immo, we began sharing the challenges we faced in our previous roles. Immo, with his experience in M&A as a corporate lawyer in New York, often felt overwhelmed by repetitive tasks. I could relate to this from my startup experiences. These shared frustrations is what started our collaboration, ultimately leading to the creation of 913.

We initially set out to address inefficiencies in the legal industry by helping companies streamline their backend processes using AI agents. With Immo's connections, we focused on the legal sector, but soon realized this problem affected many industries, including insurance and beyond.

For example, legal service providers and insurance companies often need to sort through thousands of documents. They must extract, classify, review, and interpret unstructured data before using this data and take action. Our Platform enables enterprises to automate back office repetitive processes using AI Agents

What led you to apply to Antler, and how has it supported you and 913?

We applied to Antler after realizing that we needed support to elevate our venture. In December, Antler made their first investment in us, and at that time, I had limited knowledge about venture capital.

A funny anecdote is that our final interview with Christoph happened less than 24h before the residency started. We asked him why we should give away 10% of our business when we already had 150 beta users and a working MVP. That conversation made it clear that partnering with Antler was about more than just funding; it was about gaining a long-term Partner and expanding our network.

Antler was the first VC we engaged with, and their insights into the investor and startup ecosystem were invaluable. Antler opened their network to us and connected us with partners and VPs who helped validate our project.

One last thing I want to add is that Antler plays a crucial role in making entrepreneurship accessible to individuals without "Ivy League backgrounds" or the typical "serial founder" experiences. They focus on bringing in diverse founders and help remove barriers to entrepreneurship. I truly believe we need more structures like Antler to identify the best founders. I now consider Antler not just a partner but a close friend on my journey.

What milestones have you achieved since Antler’s investment?

Since receiving Antler's investment, we've accomplished several milestones. We pivoted and rebranded our company, and successfully raised €400,000 in funding. In August, we launched our public beta, which includes tools like Agent Builder and Knowledge Hub, processing over 8 million tokens since launch. We’re generating over €200,000 ARR and have secured four B2B customers, with two more in the diligence process.

Find out more about how Antler can help you or Apply now for our next residency.

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