Entrepreneurs First

What they do

Entrepreneurs First (EF) is a global talent investor founded in 2011 by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck, with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. The firm pioneered the concept of talent investing, which involves selecting high-potential individuals before they have a co-founder or a business idea and supporting them in building technology companies from the ground up. EF runs programs in major tech hubs including London, Paris, Bangalore, New York, and San Francisco. The companys portfolio is valued at over $11 billion and includes more than 600 companies, such as the unicorn Tractable, Cleo, and Omnipresent. EFs last major funding was a $158 million Series C round in June 2022, backed by prominent tech founders from companies like Stripe, LinkedIn, and Wise. The firm provides pre-seed funding and mentorship, guiding founders through the early stages of company creation.

What they look for

EF’s thesis is that the world’s most ambitious people are often held back by the lack of a co-founder or a specific idea. By removing these friction points-providing a pool of vetted co-founders, a stipend to de-risk leaving employment, and a structured environment for ideation-EF believes it can manufacture "outlier" companies that otherwise wouldn't exist.

Stage

Pre-seed, Seed, Series A

Sectors

AI, Deeptech, Healthcare, Climate, Fintech, SaaS, Proptech, Food and agriculture, Cybersecurity

Based

London, GB