ENTREPRENEUR-FIRST
29.6.2022 08:02:09 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
Entrepreneur First (EF) , a scaleup investor in early stage founder talent, has raised a $158m Series C funding round from a group of veteran technology founders, including Patrick and John Collison, Reid Hoffman, Taavet Hinrikus and Matt Mullenweg.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005653/en/
Bucking the trend of mounting layoffs and diminishing venture capital volumes across the startup world, owing to fears of a looming recession, the host of successful entrepreneurs and founders are backing EF to unlock opportunities for a diverse set of new global founders.
EF’s impressive global roster of backers includes , John and Patrick Collison (co-founders of Stripe), Taavet Hinrikus (co-founder of Wise), Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn), Matt Mullenweg (co-founder of Wordpress), Tom Blomfield (co-founder of Monzo and GoCardless), Nat Friedman (former CEO of Github), Sara Clemens (former COO of Twitch and Pandora), Matt Robinson (co-founder of Nested and GoCardless), Patrick O’Shaughnessy (Positive Sum), Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman (co-founders of Deepmind), Claire Hughes Johnson, Sten Tamkivi, Elad Gil and Lachy Groom.
Founded in 2011 by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck in London, EF now employs 120 around the world. It operates as an early-stage investor, helping talented people find co-founders to partner with ahead of launching startups.
“Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. The idea of taking strangers and helping them start robust and ambitious companies is no longer radical but essential to power the next stage of innovation,” said Matt Clifford, CEO and co-founder of Entrepreneur First.
“The whole EF thesis is finding individuals who otherwise might not start companies and then trying to accelerate their journey to success,” he said.
“EF is completely unique in the early-stage funding landscape. Our whole effort focuses on talent rather than typical venture capital deal flow. We don't try and win deals, we don't pick deals, we find great people. That brings big strengths. The ability to partner before there even is a company is both a relationship and an economic strength,” he added.
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and Entrepreneur First board member said: “We are entering a new era for venture funding, with a new generation of global founders needing support to build iconic companies from scratch. I’m excited to be part of this world-class syndicate. We’re all passionate about the power of entrepreneurship to change people’s lives and to change the world. Entrepreneur First represents a new way for talented people to access that opportunity and a new way to build startup ecosystems outside Silicon Valley.”
Alice Bentinck, co-founder of Entrepreneur First, said: “As the value of EF’s portfolio companies passes $10bn, we feel we’re just getting started. We want EF to have a product to enable every ambitious individual to find their co-founder. EF is already one of the world’s great talent communities and with this new funding and these new investors, we’re looking forward to partnering with thousands of more exceptional founders in the coming years”
The cash -- raised as a funding round, rather than a ‘fund’ -- will be used to make investments into new startups as well as allow EF a capacity to experiment, and innovate on how best to fund the next generation of entrepreneurs by launching new products aimed at up-ending the typical venture capital model.
EF is also announcing today that the aggregate value of companies created through its platform now exceeds $10bn. Notable alumni include Tractable (the computer vision unicorn focused on the insurance industry, funded by Insight and Georgian Partners); Omnipresent (the employment platform for remote work, funded by Tencent and Kinnevik); Aztec Protocol (the private transaction protocol, funded by Paradigm); Cleo (the financial management app, funded by Balderton and EQT Ventures); and Permutive (the privacy-compliant advertising infrastructure platform, funded by Softbank).
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005653/en/
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Access Advance Welcomes Meta Platforms, Inc. and Alibaba Group to the Video Distribution Patent Pool3.7.2026 01:00:00 CEST | Press release
Access Advance LLC today announced that Meta Platforms, Inc., one of the world's largest distributors of video content across its Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp services, has joined the Video Distribution Patent Pool (VDP Pool) as a Licensee. Meta also joined both the HEVC Advance and VVC Advance pools as a Licensee. Alibaba Group, whose video infrastructure spans a wide range of video-based services across e-commerce, entertainment, and digital media platforms, was also announced as a VDP Pool Licensee this week. Meta and Alibaba joining the VDP Pool further reinforces the program’s market leading position in resolving the licensing issues around the use of modern video codecs, including VP9, AV1, HEVC and VVC, across all the diverse business models of internet video streaming. "A significant U.S.-based company like Meta joining as a Licensee is a milestone moment for the content distribution business and the VDP Pool," said Peter Moller, CEO of Access Advance. "Meta reach
Kioxia Commences Sample Shipments of 10th-Generation BiCS FLASH™ Devices Delivering High Performance, High Capacity and Low Power Consumption3.7.2026 01:00:00 CEST | Press release
Production planned at Fab2 of Kitakami Plant Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that it has commenced sample shipments of 1Tb (terabit) Triple-Level-Cell (TLC) memory devices utilizing its 10th-generation BiCS FLASH™ 3D flash memory technology.1 These will be primarily integrated into the company’s enterprise and data center SSDs, strengthening Kioxia’s lineup to meet the growing demand for AI storage, which requires higher performance, higher capacity, and lower power consumption. These new products will be manufactured using state-of-the-art equipment at Kioxia’s Kitakami Plant Fab2 facility in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. By leveraging innovative CMOS directly Bonded to Array (CBA) technology2 and On-Pitch Select Gate Drain (OPS) technology,3 both adopted since the 8th-generation BiCS FLASH™, the 10th-generation technology achieves a NAND interface speed of 4.8 Gb/s,4 a 33% improvement over the 8th generation. Bit density has increased by 59% by stac
Bending Spoons S.p.A. announces closing of initial public offering2.7.2026 20:35:00 CEST | Press release
Bending Spoons S.p.A. (“Bending Spoons”), a leading technology company, today announces the closing of its initial public offering of an aggregate of 57,971,015 of its ordinary shares, at an initial public offering price of $29.00 per share. The offering consisted of 34,398,640 shares sold by Bending Spoons and 23,572,375 shares sold by certain selling shareholders (the “Selling Shareholders”). The gross proceeds from the offering to Bending Spoons, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses, was approximately $953,917,285.50. Bending Spoons did not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the Selling Shareholders. Bending Spoons’ ordinary shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on July 1, 2026 under the ticker symbol “BSP”. Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan, and Allen & Company LLC are acting as joint lead book-running managers for the offering. Wells Fargo Securities, BofA Securities, Jefferies, Evercore ISI, BNP
Strategic Partnership Between Record Asset Management and Admicasa2.7.2026 19:00:00 CEST | Press release
RAM Swiss Holding AG announces a strategic partnership with Admicasa Holding AG (Admicasa). RAM Swiss Holding AG is a subsidiary of LSE-listed Record Financial Group (Record) and part of the Record Asset Management (RAM) group of companies. The partnership is a milestone in the growth of Admicasa and marks an important step in the continued expansion of Record’s private markets platform. Subject to regulatory approval, the agreement, signed on 1st July 2026, provides RAM Swiss Holding AG with a 50% participation in the Admicasa Fondsleitung AG, part of Admicasa, and establishes a long-term partnership to develop investment opportunities in the Swiss and Global real estate market with a plan to expand into other asset classes in the medium term. RAM is the European asset management arm of Record, the LSE-listed specialist investment group managing USD 115 billion of assets on behalf of institutional clients worldwide. Record's client base comprises pension funds, foundations, sovereign
IQM Quantum Computers Becomes First European Quantum Computing Company Listed on a Major U.S. Exchange2.7.2026 16:47:00 CEST | Press release
IQM begins trading on Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “IQMX” Company enters next phase of growth as a publicly traded leader in full-stack superconducting quantum computing IQM maintains a strong pro forma cash position of EUR 337 million IQM Quantum Computers (Nasdaq: IQMX) (“IQM”, “IQM Quantum Computers” or the “Company”), a global leader in full-stack superconducting quantum computers, today became a publicly traded company following the completion of its business combination with Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (“RAAQ”). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260702960460/en/ IQM Quantum Computers Becomes First European Quantum Computing Company Listed on a Major U.S. Exchange The company’s American Depositary Shares begin trading today on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “IQMX”. The listing marks a major milestone for IQM establishing the company as the first European quan
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom