Principal, Investment Team (Software Engineering)

About Antler Antler is a global early-stage VC firm that partners with exceptional founders from day zero to build impactful, scalable companies. We believe exceptional companies are built by exceptional people - often before an idea, team, or company exists. Our role is to find those people early, surround them with the right co-founders, capital, and conviction, and help them build ambitious, venture-scale businesses from scratch. In the UK, we are building one of the most active and hands-on early-stage investment firms in the ecosystem, backing founders from inception through to scale. Founded in 2017, Antler now operates in 27 cities across six continents. Globally, we’ve helped create and invest in over 1,500 companies (including Lovable, Airalo and Peec AI) and supported more than 10,000 founders - with the ambition to back thousands more over the coming decade. About the Role This is a core role on Antler UK's investment team, with a strong emphasis on engineering. We are looking for someone who has been in the weeds of building - someone who can sit with a founder at the earliest stage and help sharpen a problem, scope an MVP, and figure out how to ship. This is a hands-on investment and coaching role focused on technical decision-making, product strategy, and execution at zero-to-one. You will work closely with the Partners and the wider Investment Team to identify exceptional individuals before they start companies, support them through Antler’s residency, and back them as founders in our portfolio. This is not a passive investing role. You will own opportunities end-to-end — sourcing, assessment, technical diligence, memo-writing, and IC participation — and represent Antler in the UK ecosystem. During residency periods, the pace is intense and highly founder-facing. This role requires energy, presence, and judgement under pressure. London-based. Typically 4+ days per week in the office. What You’ll Do Identify and back exceptional technical founders early : Build conviction pre-traction by assessing engineering judgement, product instinct, and founder–market fit before data exists. Earn credibility within technical communities : Build trusted relationships with engineers, CTOs, AI/ML builders, and product leaders to source and support top founders. Turn ideas into AI-first, shippable companies : Help founders frame problems, scope MVPs, embed modern AI from day one, and ship in weeks—not months. Guide early product and technical strategy : Coach on prioritisation, speed vs. quality trade-offs, architecture, sequencing, and early hiring—without over-engineering. Lead technical/product diligence and investment decisions : Evaluate product vision, technology, defensibility, and execution capability. Support fundraising and growth : shape investor narratives, prepare founders for pre-seed/seed rounds, leverage networks for talent and customers, and support round execution. Strengthen the platform - Improve how we assess and support techni...