How it works
HOW IT WORKS

We bring together the co-founders of the next big tech companies.

Entrepreneur First is the best place in the world to meet a co-founder and startup from scratch. If you’re smart, ambitious, and aspire to lead a globally important company - EF is for you.

Entrepreneur First isn’t an accelerator. We don’t invest in pre-existing companies or teams.

We select individuals we recognise to have huge founder potential, from all walks of life, and bring them together to find their co-founders. 

We allow them to find co-founders they wouldn’t normally meet, but that make the best partner for them. Every one of our founders is hand-chosen for their skills, behaviour and potential, and committed to building company now. 

We create the ideal environment for you to trial partnerships, and test ideas at a rapid pace. We’ll cover your living costs while you do it. We’ll give you access to a global network of founders, advisors and investors. 

If we believe the company you build has the potential to succeed at scale, we’ll invest. 

It’s intense, it’s challenging, it’ll be the fastest you ever build in your life. But our most successful founders create $1M a week in value – so if you succeed, it’s worth it.

Step One

Application and Interviews

Founding a company isn’t easy. Our application process is designed to find a handful of talented people who can succeed at scale.

The Application Process
Approximately

10%

of applicants are offered a place
Step Two

Preparation

Ahead of joining the platform, you’ll meet the rest of your cohort at a kick-off event. Here, you’ll rapidly get to know everyone on the platform, and begin assessing potential co-founders. Most of our cohort begin forming their first teams before the platform even starts.

Preparing
“I remember being overwhelmed at the kick-off weekend, thinking how do I put myself out there. But most people are capable of so much more than they think, and now I run my own company with a co-founder who I wouldn’t have even met if it weren’t for EF.”
Laina Emmanuel CEO, Brainsight AI
Step Three

Meeting Your Co-Founder

Now things really get moving. You’ll test out ideas and working relationships with multiple potential co-founders.

Once you find the optimal partnership, you’ll start building your company. After 3 months, the two of you will present to our Investment Committee.

Forming Your Team
Step Four

Getting funding

About 40-50% of our cohorts make it to this stage. If you and your co-founder are successful at Investment Committee, you’ll spend 3 months developing your company and honing your value proposition before being introduced to our network of investors.

Getting funded
Group of people standing and listening
Step Five

Community

The value of EF lasts far beyond the end of the platform. Co-founders who met at EF have gone on to raise tens of millions from the world’s top venture funds and angel investors; exited at huge valuations to leading companies; and built unicorns.

But one of the biggest benefits whether you leave with a company or not, is our community. We often see EFers hire, advise, buy from, sell to and support each other.

The mindsets, habits and relationships you develop here last a lifetime.

Community
Up Next

Step 1: Application

Application