Entrepreneurs First

United Kingdom
Pre Seed
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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.

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

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

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

Key GPs & Partners

AB
Alice Bentinck
CEO & Co-Founder
ex-founderthesis-drivencommunity-builder
MC
Matt Clifford
Executive Chair & Co-Founder
thesis-drivenex-founderopinionated
RH
Reid Hoffman
Board Member & LP
founder-investorlinkedin-legacynetwork-builder

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Fund Overview

Fund Size$200M
Saves0

Key People

Alice Bentinck, Matt Clifford

Alice BentinckCEO & Co-Founder
Matt CliffordExecutive Chair & Co-Founder
Reid HoffmanBoard Member & LP

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