Entrepreneur First
Also known as EF, Entrepreneurs First
Incubator London, United Kingdom Since 2011 joinef.com
Overview
Talent-investing program that recruits technical individuals before they have a co-founder or idea. It helps them find co-founders and form companies, then invests in the teams that pass its investment committee. It runs from London, Paris, Bangalore and San Francisco and ends with a Demo Day in San Francisco. More than 600 companies have come out of it.
What startups get
An equity-free stipend during the co-founder-matching phase. Once a company forms: US$125K on a post-money SAFE for 8%, plus an optional US$125K uncapped MFN SAFE. Follow-on capacity up to US$5M, over US$600K in credits (Azure, OpenAI, Anthropic and others) and office space.
Details
- Type
- Incubator
- Headquarters
- London, United Kingdom
- Runs in
- London, Paris, Bangalore, San Francisco
- Format
- Cohort-based, in person
- Who can apply
- Individuals with strong technical or domain track records; no team or idea needed
- Standard terms
- $125K for 8%
- Stages
- Pre-seed
- Sectors
- AI, deep tech, enterprise software, fintech
- Started
- 2011
- Status
- Active
- Website
- joinef.com
Venture funds
Entrepreneur First also invests through venture funds managed by Entrepreneur First.
Notable alumni
About this data
Compiled from the program’s website, announcements, and press reports as of October 9, 2026. Terms, credits, and eligibility change between cohorts; confirm them with the program before applying. Alumni are examples, not a complete list.