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Entrepreneurs First

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Entrepreneurs First
TypePrivately held company
IndustryHigh tech startups
Founded2011
FoundersMatt Clifford
Alice Bentinck
Headquarters
London
,
England
Area served
North America, Europe, Asia
Key peopleMatt Clifford, Executive Chair
Alice Bentinck, CEO
Websitejoinef.com

Entrepreneurs First (formerly Entrepreneur First,[1] commonly shortened to EF) is a global talent investor and company builder that backs individuals before they have formed a company, team or business idea, and supports them in building technology companies. Founded in 2011 by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck, Entrepreneurs First initially operated as a non-profit before launching its first investment fund in 2015 and beginning to invest directly in companies formed through the programme. They now have offices in London, Paris, Bangalore and San Francisco.[2][3]

The company operates by investing in individuals before they have established a cofounder or a specific business concept. The program operates a selective admissions process, receiving tens of thousands of applications globally with estimated cohort acceptance rates between 1% and 3%.[4] It is been included international startup hubs and accelerators, including in the Financial Times annual ranking of Europe's Leading Start-Up Hubs.[5] As of now, EF has helped create more than 600 companies with a combined value of over $11 billion as of 2025.[2][6]

As of 2026, companies formed through Entrepreneurs First were collectively valued at more than $16 billion.

History

[edit]

Entrepreneurs First was founded in 2011 by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck, who had worked as management consultants at McKinsey & Company since 2009. According to Clifford, the model was inspired by a McKinsey project to develop a technology cluster in East London using university graduates to create startups. Clifford and Bentinck subsequently left McKinsey to establish the program independently.[7] Clifford originally served as CEO while Bentinck was the CPO.[8] In December 2023, Bentinck succeeded Clifford as chief executive, while Clifford became chair. In April 2026, Clifford moved to a non-executive chair role.

McKinsey & Company provided seed funding, and KPMG, Microsoft, and Sky were early corporate sponsors.[9]

Bentinck and Clifford founded Code First: Girls in late 2012, an initiative aimed at increasing the representation of women in the technology and digital workforce.[10]

In 2016, after four years of operating exclusively in London, Entrepreneurs First announced its expansion to Singapore.[11][12]

Clifford and Bentinck were awarded MBEs in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to business.[13] In 2017, it was announced that Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and Partner at Greylock, was leading a $12.4 million investment into Entrepreneurs First.[14] As part of his investment, Hoffman joined the board.[15]

In 2018, Entrepreneurs First expanded to four additional capitals: Berlin, Hong Kong, Paris and Bangalore.[16] The company closed its Hong Kong office in 2019,[3] and opened a Toronto office in 2020.[17][18] The Berlin, Canadian, and Singaporean office closed in Spring 2023 [19]

In July 2022, Entrepreneurs First announced the raise of a $158 million Series C.[20][21] Investors in the round included John Collison; Patrick Collison; Taavet Hinrikus; Reid Hoffman; Matt Mullenweg; Tom Blomfield; Nat Friedman; Demis Hassabis; Mustafa Suleyman; Elad Gil and Lachy Groom.[20]

In October 2023, Entrepreneurs First opened an office in San Francisco and held its first Demo Day there in April 2024. In 2024, the company began relocating startups receiving its pre-seed investment to San Francisco ahead of their seed rounds. By 2026, San Francisco had become a central part of EF’s company-building model, with funded founders from its Europe and Bangalore programmes relocating there after their initial programme phase.[22]

In March 2026, Entrepreneurs First raised $200 million in fresh capital at a reported valuation of $1.3 billion. The round included investment from technology founders and investors including John and Patrick Collison, Eric Schmidt, Danny Rimer, Matt Cohler, Mati Staniszewski and Dennis Hassabis. [23]

Portfolio

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Entrepreneurs First’s portfolio companies were collectively valued at more than $16 billion as of 2026 and include a number of unicorns and successful exits.

Entrepreneurs First's portfolio companies have been backed by leading investors, including Benchmark, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz.

Companies founded through Entrepreneurs First include Open Cosmos, Cleo, Aztec, Gensyn, PolyAI and OLIX.

Investors

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Investors in Entrepreneurs First include Founders Fund and Greylock, alongside technology founders and investors such as John and Patrick Collison, Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt, Dennis Hassabis, Taavet Hinrikus, Matt Mullenweg, Charlie Songhurst, Christa Davies, Lachy Groom, Aidan Gomez, Mati Staniszewski, Danny Rimer and Matt Cohler.

Program

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Entrepreneurs First operates different programmes according to geography and founder stage. Its programmes usually begin with a full-time company-building phase focused on cofounder formation and idea development. Participants receive equity-free financial support during this period.

Teams selected by EF’s Investment Committee can receive up to $250,000 in pre-seed investment. The standard offer includes $125,000 through a post-money SAFE for 8% of the company, with an optional additional $125,000 through an uncapped MFN SAFE for eligible companies.

Funded teams subsequently relocate to San Francisco, where EF provides office space, company-building support and access to its network of founders, advisors and investors before its San Francisco Demo Day.

EF also operates programmes aimed at founders at different stages. In the United States, it offers both a funded residency for people ready to build full-time and an equity-free Fellowship for individuals still exploring ideas or potential cofounders. For Europeans, EF also operates The Bridge, a San Francisco residency aimed at non-American founders, and programmes for experienced founders.

Application process

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Entrepreneurs First evaluates applicants as individuals rather than requiring an existing company, cofounder or business plan. Its programmes target founders at different stages, ranging from students and recent graduates to experienced operators and repeat founders.

The program receives a large number of applications per cohort but is highly selective, taking only a small percentage of these people per cohort.[24] Many applicants are graduates from top universities in the countries of operations such as University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, University of Edinburgh, University College London in the UK, top universities in Europe, the Ivy League universities in the US and the IIT/IIMs in India.[25] The organization recruits university graduates directly on a generous stipend, presenting the program as an alternative to corporate employment or postgraduate academic research.[26]

Entrepreneurs First differs from other accelerators such as Y Combinator in that it works with individuals rather than companies.[27]

In 2026, around 10% of EF companies raising funding rounds did so with either Benchmark, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures or Index Ventures.

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "ENTREPRENEURS FIRST LP overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Homepage". Entrepreneur First. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Entrepreneur First, the 'talent investor,' pulls out of Hong Kong". TechCrunch. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "Top 20 Startup Accelerators Worldwide". Peony. 22 June 2026. Retrieved 2 September 2026.
  5. ↑ Startups Magazine (15 April 2024). "Top startup hubs in Europe". Startups Magazine. Retrieved 2 September 2026.
  6. ↑ "Stripe founders back Entrepreneur First in latest $158m fundraise | Sifted". sifted.eu. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Focus on Founders: Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford at Entrepreneur First". McKinsey & Company Alumni Center. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Our Team - Entrepreneur First". www.joinef.com. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  9. ↑ Davidson, Lauren (20 September 2015). "Could this London accelerator be the biggest creator of start-ups in the world?". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Lessons from running a start-up accelerator". Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  11. ↑ Shead, Sam (20 January 2016). "Singapore is paying this British company to help build its startup scene". Business Insider. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  12. ↑ Yap, Shiwen (17 January 2018). "Global venture builder Entrepreneur First unveils second Singapore cohort". DealStreetAsia. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  13. ↑ "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B16.
  14. ↑ "Start-up business puts entrepreneurs first". The Times. 12 September 2017. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  15. ↑ "Linkedin's co-founder investing in a London startup hub". The Independent. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  16. ↑ "Entrepreneur First, the company builder backed by Greylock, expands to Paris". Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  17. ↑ Joyner, April (3 July 2021). "A Canadian tech pioneer tells us why this Toronto accelerator, backed by Reid Hoffman, is a game changer". Business Insider. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  18. ↑ O'Hear, Steve (23 September 2019). "Entrepreneur First, the 'talent investor,' to launch in Toronto, Canada early next year". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  19. ↑ Nicol-Schwarz, Kai. "Exclusive: Entrepreneur First launches in the US".
  20. 1 2 "A who's who of founders-turned-investors pump $158 million into London's Entrepreneur First". Tech.eu. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Entrepreneur First raises $158M at a $560M valuation, adding Stripe's Collison brothers to its list of backers". TechCrunch. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  22. ↑ "Entrepreneur First hosts first demo day in San Francisco after US move". Sifted. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  23. ↑ "Entrepreneurs First crowned a unicorn following $200m fundraise". Sifted. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
  24. ↑ "Joinef website - FAQ". Entrepreneur First. 2015. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  25. ↑ Weinberg, Jonathan (25 February 2014). "A Tech Accelerator Grows in London". Fortune. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  26. ↑ O'Hear, Steve (15 July 2015). "Entrepreneur First Raises £8.5M To Find Europe's Best Technical Talent And Invest 'Pre-Team, Pre-Idea'". TechCrunch. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  27. ↑ Shead, Sam (10 September 2015). "Entrepreneur First: Why it's different to other accelerators and who its latest startup champions are". Tech World. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
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