Entrepreneurs First is a global talent investor founded in 2011 by Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford, originally in London and now operating from San Francisco, London, Paris, Bangalore, and New York. Rather than investing in existing companies, EF backs exceptional individuals before they have a team or idea, bringing them together to form co-founder pairs and build startups from scratch. The combined portfolio of companies built through EF is now valued at over $16 billion.
EF has no sector restriction. The firm focuses on identifying individuals with exceptional technical, scientific, or entrepreneurial potential and helping them build companies at the frontier of technology. Recent cohorts have produced companies in AI infrastructure, biotech, climate, fintech, and deep tech.
EF announced a $200 million raise in March 2026 to continue scaling its talent investor model globally. The round brought in a remarkable collection of tech founders and operators including Reid Hoffman, Patrick and John Collison, Eric Schmidt, Demis Hassabis, Mustafa Suleyman, Aidan Gomez, and institutional investor Greylock. The raise reflects EF's expanding geographic footprint, with particular growth in its India program, where pre-seed companies are now relocating to the Bay Area with time-to-raise halved and valuations doubled compared to earlier cohorts.
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