{{short description|Business accelerator program}} {{Promotional|date=December 2025}} {{Use British English|date=October 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}} {{Infobox company | name = Entrepreneurs First | logo = Entrepreneurs First Logo.png | logo_size = 200px | logo_padding = | logo_alt = Entrepreneurs First | logo_caption = | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = | type = Privately held company | industry = High tech startups | founded = 2011 | founders = Matt Clifford<br>Alice Bentinck | hq_location = | hq_location_city = London | hq_location_country = England | area_served = North America, Europe, Asia | key_people = Matt Clifford, Executive Chair<br>Alice Bentinck, CEO | products = | brands = | services = | homepage = {{URL|joinef.com}} }} '''Entrepreneurs First''' (formerly '''Entrepreneur First''',<ref>{{Cite web |title=ENTREPRENEURS FIRST LP overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/LP016464 |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref> commonly shortened to '''EF''') is an international talent investor, which supports individuals in building technology companies. Founded in 2011 by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck, the company has offices in London, Paris, Bangalore, New York and San Francisco.<ref name="home" /><ref name="hk">{{cite web |title=Entrepreneur First, the 'talent investor,' pulls out of Hong Kong |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/15/ef-pulls-out-of-hong-kong/ |website=TechCrunch |date=15 October 2019 |access-date=11 January 2022}}</ref>

Entrepreneurs First helped pioneer the idea of talent investing. Their approach involves finding and investing in individuals with the potential to become founders, often before they have a cofounder or idea. EF has helped create more than 600 companies with a combined value of over $11 billion as of 2025.<ref name="home">{{cite web |title=Homepage |url=https://www.joinef.com/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=Entrepreneur First |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Stripe founders back Entrepreneur First in latest $158m fundraise {{!}} Sifted |url=https://sifted.eu/articles/entrepreneur-first-158m-raise-stripe-founders/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=sifted.eu}}</ref>

==History==

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, which would tap "talented graduates" to create startups to bolster the cluster. Believing that the model would best succeed independently, Clifford and Bentinck left McKinsey and started the program themselves.<ref name="mck">{{cite web |date=22 July 2014 |title=Focus on Founders: Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford at Entrepreneur First |url=https://alumni.mckinsey.com/public_content/500171653 |publisher=McKinsey & Company Alumni Center |accessdate=1 October 2015}}</ref> Clifford originally served as CEO while Bentinck was the CPO.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.joinef.com/our-team|title=Our Team - Entrepreneur First|website=www.joinef.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-21|archive-date=19 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919091908/https://www.joinef.com/our-team|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2023 Alice took over as CEO and Matt become chair.

McKinsey & Company provided seed funding, and KPMG, Microsoft, and Sky were early corporate sponsors.<ref name="telegraph">{{cite web |last=Davidson |first=Lauren |date=20 September 2015 |title=Could this London accelerator be the biggest creator of start-ups in the world? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/11878590/Could-this-London-accelerator-be-the-biggest-creator-of-start-ups-in-the-world.html |work=The Sunday Telegraph |accessdate=1 October 2015}}</ref>

Bentinck founded Code First: Girls in late 2012 to address the decline of women working in the tech and digital workforce, which has led to a lack of diversity in the sector.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/lessons-running-start-up-accelerator/1400249#|title=Lessons from running a start-up accelerator|access-date=2016-10-11}}</ref>

In 2016, after four years of operating exclusively in London, Entrepreneurs First announced its expansion to Singapore.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shead |first1=Sam |title=Singapore is paying this British company to help build its startup scene |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/entrepreneur-first-has-expanded-its-company-building-programme-to-singapore-2016-1 |access-date=11 January 2022 |work=Business Insider |date=20 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Yap |first1=Shiwen |title=Global venture builder Entrepreneur First unveils second Singapore cohort |url=https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/entrepreneur-first-second-singapore-cohort-90518/ |access-date=11 January 2022 |work=DealStreetAsia |date=17 January 2018}}</ref>

Clifford and Bentinck were awarded MBEs in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to business.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=61608|supp=y|page=B16|date=11 June 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/start-up-programme-puts-the-entrepreneur-first-kldsw5swm|title=Start-up business puts entrepreneurs first|last=Editor|first=James Hurley, Enterprise|date=2017-09-12|work=The Times|access-date=2017-11-21|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> As part of his investment, Hoffman joined the board.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/indyventure/linkedin-reid-hoffman-entrepreneur-first-start-ups-hub-london-a7941196.html|title=Linkedin's co-founder investing in a London startup hub|date=2017-09-11|work=The Independent|access-date=2017-11-21|language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 2018, Entrepreneurs First expanded to four additional capitals: Berlin, Hong Kong, Paris and Bangalore.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/05/ef-paris/|title=Entrepreneur First, the company builder backed by Greylock, expands to Paris|access-date=2018-07-17}}</ref> The company closed its Hong Kong office in 2019,<ref name="hk" /> and opened a Toronto office in 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Joyner |first1=April |title=A Canadian tech pioneer tells us why this Toronto accelerator, backed by Reid Hoffman, is a game changer |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/reid-hoffman-backed-entrepreneur-first-makes-toronto-a-startup-hub-2021-7 |access-date=11 January 2022 |work=Business Insider |date=3 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Hear |first1=Steve |title=Entrepreneur First, the 'talent investor,' to launch in Toronto, Canada early next year |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/23/ef-canada/ |access-date=11 January 2022 |work=TechCrunch |date=23 September 2019}}</ref> The Berlin, Canadian, and Singaporean office closed in Spring 2023 <ref>{{cite news |last1=Nicol-Schwarz |first1=Kai |title=Exclusive: Entrepreneur First launches in the US |url=https://sifted.eu/articles/entrepreneur-first-launches-in-the-us-news}}</ref>

In 2021, it announced a partnership with Tezos Foundation to launch a platform for building Web3 startups in London, which will begin in October 2022.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Butcher |first1=Mike |title=Entrepreneur First launches partnership with Tezos to spin up Web3 startups |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/15/entrepreneur-first-launches-partnership-with-tezos-to-spin-up-web3-startups/ |access-date=11 January 2022 |work=TechCrunch |date=15 November 2021}}</ref>

In July 2022, Entrepreneurs First announced the raise of a $158 million Series C.<ref name=techeu>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-29 |title=A who's who of founders-turned-investors pump $158 million into London's Entrepreneur First |url=https://tech.eu/2022/06/29/a-whos-who-of-founders-turned-investors-pump-158-million-into-londons-entrepreneur-first/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=Tech.eu |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Entrepreneur First raises $158M at a $560M valuation, adding Stripe's Collison brothers to its list of backers |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/28/entrepreneur-first-raises-158m-at-a-560m-valuation-adding-stripes-collison-brothers-to-its-list-of-backers/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=TechCrunch |date=29 June 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref name=techeu/>

In October 2023, Entrepreneurs First opened a San Francisco office and held its first startup demo day there in April 2024. This commenced a new chapter in the company's history wherein all startups from London, Bangalore, Paris and New York would be obliged to relocate to San Francisco and incorporate their companies in the US.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Entrepreneur First hosts first demo day in San Francisco after US move |url=https://sifted.eu/articles/entrepreneur-first-us-demo-day/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Sifted |language=en}}</ref>

== Portfolio == The portfolio of startups cofounded on Entrepreneurs First programs<ref>{{Cite web |title=Portfolio |url=https://www.joinef.com/portfolio/ |access-date=2025-09-07 |website=Entrepreneurs First |language=en}}</ref> are now worth over $11 billion as of 2025. They include 600+ companies, ranging from pre-seed (like FinStack,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=FinStack |title=FinStack - Best No-Code Loan Origination System (LOS) for Banks, NBFCs, LSPs and DSAs |url=https://finstack.in/about |access-date=2025-09-07 |website=FinStack |language=en}}</ref> Coupl<ref>{{Cite web |title=Coupl - Joint Banking for Modern Couples |url=https://coupl.money/ |access-date=2025-09-07 |website=coupl.money}}</ref>) to Series C and include a number of unicorns and successfully existed companies.

Entrepreneurs First's portfolio companies have been backed by leading investors, including Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Softbank and GV (formerly Google Ventures).

Among its successful startups are Tractable (valued at $1 billion as of July 2021<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 July 2021 |title=How we built an AI unicorn in 6 years |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/20/how-we-built-an-ai-unicorn-in-6-years/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref>), Cleo (named Europe's next billion dollar startup<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cleo named a Forbes' Next Billion-Dollar Startup 2023 |url=https://web.meetcleo.com/blog/forbes-2023-next-billion-dollar-startup |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=web.meetcleo.com |language=en}}</ref>), Omnipresent, Aztec, Hertzwell, Transcelestial, Airbank, and Magic Pony Technology - who sold to Twitter for a reported $150m only 18 months after the founders met on the program.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 June 2016 |title=Twitter pays up to $150M for Magic Pony Technology, which uses neural networks to improve images |url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/20/twitter-is-buying-magic-pony-technology-which-uses-neural-networks-to-improve-images/ |access-date=2019-02-14 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="crunch">{{cite web |last=O'Hear |first=Steve |date=15 July 2015 |title=Entrepreneur First Raises £8.5M To Find Europe's Best Technical Talent And Invest 'Pre-Team, Pre-Idea' |url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/15/entrepreneur-first/#.ks0nin:CdRw |accessdate=1 October 2015 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref>

== Investors == Entrepreneurs First is backed by a global group of top-tier founders and tech industry leaders, including: Reid Hoffman (cofounder of LinkedIn), John and Patrick Collison (cofounders of Stripe), Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman (cofounders of Deepmind), Taavet Hinrikus (cofounder of Wise), Matt Mullenweg, Tom Blomfield (cofounder of Monzo and GoCardless), Nat Friedman (former CEO of GitHub), Sara Clemens (former COO of WHATNOT and Twitch), Matt Robinson (cofounder of Nested and GoCardless), Patrick O’Shaughnessy (Positive Sum), Sten Tamkivi, Elad Gil, and Lachy Groom.

== Program == Entrepreneurs First runs a 12-week-long program, called 'FORM', which recruits talented individuals to meet cofounders and build technology companies from scratch.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.joinef.com/about/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=Entrepreneur First |language=en}}</ref> Over the course of the program, individuals are encouraged to test co-founding partnerships with other participants, while developing and testing initial company ideas. During this time, participants are paid a stipend to cover their living costs, .

At the end of this 3-month period, participants pitch their companies to Entrepreneurs First's 'Investment Committee' to receive a first 'pre-seed' investment in exchange for equity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://www.joinef.com/faqs/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Entrepreneurs First |language=en}}</ref> If they accept this investment then founders move to the second part of the program called 'LAUNCH'.

During this second 12-week sprint, founders typically relocate to San Francisco to access and build in the world's most valuable single market. The LAUNCH program culminates with an in-person Demo Day from the San Francisco hub on Folsom Street. Past Demo Days have been opened by renowned industry figures including Reid Hoffman and Patrick Collison.

Following Demo Day, founders continue to gain exposure to hundreds of top Seed VCs and angels across the US, Europe and Asia through the EF Demo Day online platform.

===Application process=== Applicants do not need to have an idea for a business or a team in place before applying, but are evaluated solely on the basis of their ambition and talent.<ref name="telegraph" /> The program looks for candidates who have either recently graduated, or have a few years of industry experience.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What does EF look for? |url=https://www.joinef.com/what-does-ef-look-for/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=Entrepreneur First |language=en}}</ref>

The program receives a large number of applications per cohort but is highly selective, taking only a small percentage of these people per cohort.<ref name="nff">{{cite web|url=http://www.joinef.com/questions/#faq|title=Joinef website - FAQ|year=2015|publisher=Entrepreneur First|accessdate=20 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511163203/http://www.joinef.com/questions/#faq|archive-date=11 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many applicants are graduates from University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, University of Edinburgh, University College London, and the University of St Andrews.<ref name="fortune">{{cite web |last=Weinberg |first=Jonathan |date=25 February 2014 |title=A Tech Accelerator Grows in London |url=http://fortune.com/2014/02/25/a-tech-accelerator-grows-in-london/ |accessdate=1 October 2015 |work=Fortune}}</ref> Entrepreneurs First conducts its own talent searches to find and draw graduates to the program, encouraging them to apply "rather than joining Google or Facebook or doing a PhD or Postdoc".<ref name="crunch" />

Entrepreneurs First differs from other accelerators such as Y Combinator and Wayra in that it works with individuals rather than companies.<ref name=world>{{cite web |url= http://www.techworld.com/news/startups/what-sets-ef-apart-from-other-accelerators-3625182/|title= Entrepreneur First: Why it's different to other accelerators and who its latest startup champions are|first=Sam|last=Shead|date=10 September 2015|accessdate=1 October 2015|work=Tech World}}</ref> However, its successful startups have gone on to receive investor funding from Y Combinator, as well as from Balderton Capital, Index Ventures, Notion Capital, and Octopus Investments.<ref name=crunch/>

In July 2015, Entrepreneurs First announced the establishment of an £8.5&nbsp;million fund, backed by Encore Capital Infocomm Investments, and angel investors such as Robin Klein and Alex Chesterman, which will enable it to accept 200 participants per year for the next three years.<ref name=crunch/>

The new San Francisco hub, EF is a link to Silicon Valley. This location supports global talent in developing startups and securing funding within the world’s largest software market.

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Entrepreneur First}} Category:British companies established in 2011 Category:Companies based in the London Borough of Southwark Category:Business incubators of the United Kingdom Category:Startup accelerators Category:Venture capital firms of the United Kingdom