Upcoming Cohorts

Our programme brings together the world’s highest potential individuals to find their ideal co-founder and build globally successful startups.

Select a cohort and begin your application.

Our cohorts are curated to ensure the best mix of talent and prospective co-founders – so for your best chance of joining us, don’t wait to apply.

Learn more about our programme

Graduate (Bangalore)

Register interest for 2024
Register interest

Graduate (London)

Register interest for 2024
Register interest

Graduate (Paris)

Register interest for 2024
Register interest

Graduate (North America)

Pre-programme starts Summer 2023
Register Interest

London

October 2023
Application deadline 10 July
Apply Now

web3 (London)

October 2023
Application deadline 10 July
Apply Now

Paris

October 2023
Application deadline 10 July
Apply Now

Find (Paris)

Register interest
Register interest

Find (London)

June 2023
Application deadline 17 June
Apply Now
Our selection criteria

What does EF look for?

We support people who have recently graduated, or who have a few years of industry experience. Often, they’ve never tried founding a company before, so how do we know if they have founder potential?

We know that communicating your founder ability isn’t an easy task. To help you, we’ve outlined exactly what we look for in applications, so you can decide what you want to focus on in your application.

Our criteria shouldn’t be read as a checklist, and they’re not designed to select people out. It’s extremely rare for someone to score highly on every criteria.

We want people with a variety of backgrounds. We’re looking for outliers, who have done unusual things. Typically, our founders are particularly strong on a couple of criteria, but not all. The biggest benefit of EF is finding a co-founder with complementary skills and behaviours. With your combined ability, you can leverage each other’s spikes to your competitive advantage

Read our full selection criteria.

Want to know more about the programme before applying?

Application FAQs

View all FAQs
Q

Which location should I apply to?

A

We recommend that you choose the cohort that is closest to you. Participants are expected to relocate to take part in the programme, and while there’s no commitment to stay in those locations afterwards, most of our alumni do.

Q

I don't have the right to work in any of your locations - can I still take part?

A

If you don’t currently have the right to work in any of the countries we operate in, some of our locations are able to support successful applicants to apply for a visa in order to take part. 

You can find details of the support we provide here.

Q

Do I have to relocate?

A

Yes. People we select relocate to join us from all over the world. In some locations we can offer support to help you apply for a visa if required and to help you settle into the regions. There’s no commitment to stay in any of those locations after the programme, though most of our alumni do.

Q

Do I need a co-founder?

A

No –  Entrepreneur First is designed for aspiring founders to join as individuals, and meet their co-founder from our carefully selected community.  

The first 8 weeks of the programme is dedicated to trialling co-founders and ideas. You’ll have the opportunity to test partnerships with leading talent from a wide variety of backgrounds to find the right person with a complimentary skillset and mindset.

Q

Do I need an idea?

A

No – you don’t need an idea to apply to Entrepreneur First. Insights, strong convictions and beliefs about the future are encouraged, though. If you do have an idea, that’s great, but its strength and weaknesses won’t affect how we assess your application. We care most about the size of your ambition.

Q

Can I apply if I’m non-technical?

A

Yes – approximately 20% of our cohort is non-technical. If you don’t come from a technical background but have strong beliefs formed from working in industry we’d welcome an application from you. Some of our most successful companies have been built by co-founders with a combination of technical and domain expertise. Again, we care most about the size of your potential.

Q

I'm technical, and I don’t have any business experience in starting a company, can I still apply?

A

Absolutely – we’re strong believers that technically-skilled individuals can make some of the best founders. The Entrepreneur First team will work with you to help you understand customer development, validate your idea and figure out the go to market strategy. We’ll help you develop core founder skills every step of the way.

Q

Can I apply if I have raised investment already?

A

You are still eligible to apply if you have taken a very small amount of investment or been awarded a grant. However, depending on the arrangement, it does sometimes prevent us from being able to invest in your company and therefore prevent us from offering you a place. We deal with these situations on a case-by-case basis and you should email [email protected] for more information.

Q

I already have a co-founder - can I apply?

A

Entrepreneur First’s programme is designed first and foremost for individuals to find a co-founder they wouldn’t have otherwise met. We assess prospective founders solo, based on their potential to found a company, rather than the merits of an existing team or business.

Our cohort creates an environment for you to trial those partnerships at an accelerated pace. Therefore, EF might not be the right place for you if you’re already in a team, particularly if you’ve made a lot of progress and are committed to working together.

If you are in a co-founding team and do still wish to apply, we ask that you and your co-founder apply separately to the programme.

Q

Can I work on something else while doing Entrepreneur First or could I do the programme part-time?

A

No – When taking part in our programme, we ask you to commit full time so that you can move as fast as possible, and focus your energy on working with your co-founder.

We provide a monthly stipend to enable everyone to focus on our programme without the need to work elsewhere.

Q

Can I defer my place at Entrepreneur First?

A

No – at this point we do not allow deferrals. There are two reasons for this; one is that each cohort is carefully composed based on the backgrounds and skills of the strongest applicants meet during the selection cycle for a cohort – this means we can optimise for strong cofounder combinations. The second is that we believe in urgency and not delaying building the company you believe should exist.