Fund profile / United Kingdom

Entrepreneurs First

Geography: United Kingdom
Stage: Pre-Seed
Fund size: $200M
Focus: AI/ML, Deep Tech and Enterprise Software
Signals: Published

N°01 / About

About Entrepreneurs First

Global talent investor and company builder raised $200M at $1.3B unicorn valuation. Backed by Stripe founders, Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt, and Index Ventures. Portfolio collectively valued at $16B+. Backs exceptional individuals before they have a team or idea.

N°02 / Thesis

Investment Focus

Location / RegionUnited Kingdom

Funding StagePre-Seed

Industry Focus

AI/ML

Deep Tech

Enterprise Software

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

Elite solo technical founder — pre-idea, ambitious, ready to relocate SF

pre-team pre-idea

talent-first

co-founder matching

technical founders

global-to-SF-relocation

deep-tech-scale

satellite-infrastructure

Bullish Signals

Portfolio valuation 5x'd to $16B since 2022 — proven model at scaleblog

Collison, Hoffman, Schmidt backing signals highest-conviction institutional endorsementblog

Bay Area relocation halved time-to-seed and doubled valuations for graduatesblog

Recent cohort graduates raising $2–15M seed rounds within weeks of completionblog

600+ companies; $11B+ portfolio value as of 2025external

SF hub open; all cohorts now relocate to USexternal

Tractable unicorn; Magic Pony sold $150M — 18 months post-programexternal

Sequoia, a16z, SoftBank backing portfolio companiesexternal

12-week FORM + 12-week LAUNCH — structured dual-sprint modelwikipedia

Demo Days opened by Hoffman & Collison — elite signalwikipedia

Hassabis, Suleyman, Hinrikus, Blomfield all backing EF — founder-led LP basewikipedia

Stipend paid during FORM — lowers barrier for top talentwikipedia

NYC + Paris + Bangalore + London — all funnel into SFwikipedia

Nat Friedman, Elad Gil, Lachy Groom added as LPs — Series Cwikipedia

$158M Series C at $560M valuation — 2022wikipedia

McKinsey & Company seed funding; KPMG, Microsoft, Sky early sponsorswikipedia

Bentinck founded Code First: Girls — increasing women in tech pipelinewikipedia

First demo day San Francisco April 2024 — expansion momentum confirmedwikipedia

Compress learning curve — fail faster, find right idea soonerlinkedin

Open Cosmos €300M raise proves EF can generate deep-tech scale exitslinkedin

Portfolio sustains critical infrastructure & sovereign tech — strategic alignmentlinkedin

Open Cosmos orbit $346M funding + $370M signed contracts — proven deep-tech scalesocial

Open Cosmos satellite constellation validates EF thesis on infrastructure founderssocial

Contrarian Signals

Majority of $200M funds EF operations, not startups — only $70M for investmentsblog

Scaling cohort size risks diluting signal quality of talent identificationblog

Best graduates may have succeeded independently — program value debatableblog

Berlin, Singapore, Canada offices all closed 2023 — contraction signalexternal

Wikipedia flags article as promotional — neutral validation lackingexternal

Promotional tone flag reissued Dec 2025 — credibility optics riskwikipedia

HK office closed 2019 — history of market exitswikipedia

Toronto office closed Spring 2023 — geographic retreat pattern continueswikipedia

Founder Do's

Apply as individual — no co-founder/idea required; EF sources both

Be top technical: PhD, elite engineer (DeepMind/OpenAI), repeat founder

Commit to SF relocation post-FORM for seed fundraising acceleration

Engage fully with FORM (12w) + LAUNCH (12w) dual-sprint model

Leverage Demo Day + 600+ portfolio network for investor exposure

Founder Don'ts

Don't apply with existing co-founder, team, or locked idea

Don't expect long-term capital beyond pre-seed $250K check

Don't join if cohort-based structured programs misalign with your style

43 signals on Entrepreneurs First

23 bullish · 8 contrarian · 5 pitch do's · 3 don'ts · 4 GP profiles, each with its source. From €9/month, cancel anytime.

See a signal free View Plans Browse all Signal Profiles →

Facts

Fund Overview

Fund Size$200M

Saves0

Website

People

Key People

Alice Bentinck, Matt Clifford

Alice BentinckCEO & Co-Founder

Matt CliffordExecutive Chair & Co-Founder

Reid HoffmanBoard Member & LP

Jonny CliffordTeam Member

Backers

Known LPs

Reid HoffmanIndividual / Angel

John CollisonIndividual / Angel

Patrick CollisonIndividual / Angel

+10 more LPs in LP Radar

N°04 / See also

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