Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

A seed accelerator that sold a startup to Twitter for $150 million says London is becoming more like Silicon Valley — 'The talent pipeline is there'

A seed accelerator that sold a startup to Twitter for $150 million says London is becoming more like Silicon Valley — 'The talent pipeline is there'

Entrepreneur First is a global talent investor that identifies potential entrepreneurs and helps them find partners and develop business ideas. Founded by two British entrepreneurs in London, the scheme now spans six different cities worldwide and closed a new $115 million fund earlier this year.
 Founding companies is never easy and for many, entrepreneurship is a route swathed in uncertainty.

Entrepreneur First, a London-founded startup incubator, is seeking to change that by bringing wannabe entrepreneurs together, helping them find partners and develop business ideas. The company, founded in 2011 as a non-profit, brings in cohorts of founders each year across six cities worldwide and pays each one a stipend for living expenses.

The lack of a British Google or Facebook is not because of a lack of talent or capital, according to EF, rather that bringing those elements together has traditionally been tricky because entrepreneurship was not as culturally natural as it is in Silicon Valley.

 "Silicon Valley has a 70-year history whereas careers in the UK were more governed by prestige," founders Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford said in an interview with Business Insider. "Now, you see new tech companies bring in millions in equity and that impact gives you more leverage as an individual to succeed."

In exchange for a stake in any companies started, EF provides pre-seed funding and training — putting attendees through a speed-dating process of sorts with other potential founders, while giving them a bootcamp of intensive classes to navigate typical startup hurdles.

The boom in available VC funding has helped upend the typically conservative British views toward risk and entrepreneurship, say the founders.

"Usually friends and family might be worried about someone quitting their stable traditional career to found a business," Clifford told Business Insider. "It's the complete opposite of Silicon Valley, but that's changing fast and the talent pipeline is there."

EF invests up to 15% in seed rounds for successful companies and has also participated in series A financings but focuses primarily on pre-seed. Bentinck and Clifford closed a $115 million fund in February this year with investment from institutional investors from the US, Europe, and Asia as well as TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus.

Another investor in the new fund was Rob Bishop, an EF alumnus, who sold his company Magic Pony Technology to Twitter for $150 million in 2016. Another notable exit was Bloomsbury AI which was bought by Facebook last year for an undisclosed amount.

EF says it looks for prospective founders rather than pre-formed businesses and wants to leverage the abilities that individuals have. "We see a lot of copycat ideas coming through and someone with 10 years experience in banking who wants to do music discovery doesn't necessarily have an edge there," Bentinck said. "We want founders to embrace solutions they have an advantage in, rather than look at problems they see in their personal life."

To-date the company, which has outposts in Singapore, Paris, Berlin, Bangalore, and Hong Kong, has helped more than 1,200 individuals build over 200 technology companies, collectively worth $1.5 billion, according to UK Tech News. EF was recently part of the seed financing of one of its cohort companies, Vine Health, which raised the largest seed round in UK history for all female founders out of EF.

Beyond London, the company had its largest investor day to-date in Singapore earlier this month with a number of deep tech startups on show, according to Tech in Asia.

"You can't take a short-term perspective on building good businesses," founders Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford told Business Insider in an interview. "Top talent needs to be nurtured long term with ambition at every stage like an institution would. We want to be the Harvard of venture capital."




AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Hungary Ranked Among the World’s Safest Travel Destinations for 2025
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Man Convicted of Fraud After Booking Over 120 Free Flights Posing as Flight Attendant
Iran Launches Extensive Missile Attack on Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites
Beata Thunberg Rebrands as Beata Ernman Amidst Sister's Activism Controversy
Hungarian Parliament Approves Citizenship Suspension Law
Prime Minister Orbán Criticizes EU's Ukraine Accession Plans
Hungarian Delicacies Introduced to Japanese Market
Hungary's Industrial Output Rises Amid Battery Sector Slump
President Sulyok Celebrates 15 Years of Hungarian Unity Efforts
Hungary's Szeleczki Shines at World Judo Championships
Visegrád Construction Trends Diverge as Hungary Lags
Hungary Hosts National Quantum Technology Workshop
Hungarian Animation Featured at Annecy Festival
Israel Issues Ultimatum to Iran Over Potential Retaliation and Nuclear Facilities
UK and EU Reach New Economic Agreement
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
Trump to Iran: Make a Deal — Sign or Die
Operation "Like a Lion": Israel Strikes Iran in Unprecedented Offensive
Israel Launches 'Operation Rising Lion' Targeting Iranian Nuclear and Military Sites
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Austrian School Shooting Leaves Nine Dead in Graz
Bezos's Lavish Venice Wedding Sparks Local Protests
Europe Prepares for Historic Lunar Rover Landing
Italian Parents Seek Therapy Amid Lengthy School Holidays
British Fishing Vessel Seized by France Fined €30,000
Dutch Government Collapses Amid Migration Policy Dispute
UK Commits to 3.5% GDP Defence Spending Under NATO Pressure
Germany Moves to Expedite Migrant Deportations
US Urges UK to Raise Defence Spending to 5% of GDP
Israeli Forces Intercept Gaza-Bound Aid Vessel Carrying Greta Thunberg
IMF Warns of Severe Global Trade War Impacts on Emerging Markets
Low Turnout Jeopardizes Italy's Citizenship Reform Referendum
Transatlantic Interest Rate Divergence Widens as Trump Pressures Powell
EU Lawmaker Calls for Broader Exemptions in Supply Chain Legislation
France's Defense Spending Plans Threatened by High National Debt
European Small-Cap Stocks Outperform U.S. Rivals Amid Growth Revival
Switzerland Proposes $26 Billion Capital Increase for UBS
×