From student to startup founder

Pre-Programme starts Summer 2023 Deadline 2nd April 2023

Start your career by doing the most ambitious thing possible.

We’re paying a small number of Europe’s top graduates to turn down their other offers, form a community, and build startups together. They’ll receive access to the world’s best mentors and advisors; the opportunity to pitch for pre-seed investment; and introductions to our network of investors and founders. Over nine months, they’ll have the opportunity to go from student to startup founder.

Why join Entrepreneur First Graduate?

You probably have an idea in your head about what the most competitive or prestigious path to take after university is. Top students are told the most ambitious path for them is in consulting, investment banking, law or at a tech company. If you’re very academic, you might go for a PhD.

But if you’re one of the most exceptional, getting into one of these options will limit your ambition. The best graduates don’t want to spend years working on projects that don’t use their full potential, doing jobs they don’t get anything out of, chasing someone else’s targets or fundings. They want to build something big and impactful, they want to lead it, and they want to do it now.

Entrepreneur First Graduate is for them. We remove the barriers to founding a company, such as time, network and money, and give you what you need to build startups tackling the world’s hardest problems.

Not everyone who goes through the programme will succeed. But the ones that do could create over US$1M in value a week.

Who is EF Graduate for?

We’re not looking for a particular set of badges or achievements.

You could have come top of your class; you could be a dropout. We’re not particularly interested in the internships graduate programmes normally look for, and we definitely don’t care about experience. You can come from any walk of life, and be interested in building in any vertical.

There are however a few things we expect Entrepreneur First Graduates to have in common:

You’re obsessed with big ideas.
You’re always building. You don’t just stick to what’s on your degree course – you’re always looking for the next project, the next problem to solve.
You know that software is eating the world. You want to make impact and know that a tech startup is how to do this at scale. We’d expect those who aspire to be CEOs to have some technical abilities, and CTOs to be exceptional in their field.
You’re bored by anything that doesn’t have a real world impact.
Your peers don’t understand why you’re frustrated at traditional career options.

Primarily, we’re looking for candidates who are graduating in 2023.

How it Works

Part 1

Immerse yourself in the startup world.

You’ll participate in a pre-programme that will fast-track your learning and allow you to explore your own interests, come up with ideas and team up with people from your cohort.

You’ll get one to one support, lectures, workshops and opportunities to immerse yourself in the tech world through internships at venture-backed startups. You’ll become immersed in the startup world, and will begin building a network with the potential to change the trajectory of your life. You’ll have access to top mentors and advisors from Entrepreneur First’s network, who will help you navigate the transition from student to founder.

Part 2

Find a co-founder and an idea.

This is when ‘Form’, the first part of our programme, begins. Alongside a hand-selected community of like-minded, driven people, you’ll explore ideas and hunches. You might have had these for years; you might have developed them in the last few days.

You’ll test co-founding with others from your cohort, with no obligations to stay in the team – in fact, we encourage you to break up if it’s not a good fit. We celebrate this as a sign of progress.

We’ll cover your living expenses while you explore ideas in areas like climate, crypto, health, consumer, finance, biotech, social impact and more.

Part 3

Get funded, launch your company.

After 3 months, if you’ve found a co-founder, you’ll have the opportunity to pitch your ideas and your new company to our Investment Committee. It’s a competitive process, and only those building businesses we recognise as being on the path to global success will get funded.

If you pass Investment Committee, you’ll join our accelerator ‘Launch’, where we’ll prepare you to raise funding from some of the world’s best investors. You’ll be coached at every step, and will get access to Entrepreneur First’s local investors and our network in Silicon Valley.

Part 4

To be continued.

Entrepreneur First Graduate is a career accelerant, regardless of whether or not you build a company. Once you’ve joined the Entrepreneur First community, you’re a member for life – and it’s a community that you’ll benefit from throughout your entire career.

If you aren’t successful at Investment Committee, we’ll work with you to find your next role. We’ve got insider access to hundreds of top startups, and will enable you to find an ambitious role that suits you.

“Tractable was created by two people just out of a Master’s degree - not even a PhD - with zero professional experience... and I think if Entrepreneur First didn’t exist, I would never have thought that this would be possible.”

Alex Dalyac CEO, Tractable

Our portfolio

A new programme. A tried and tested methodology.

For the last ten years, we’ve been working with the world’s most exceptional people to build companies now worth in excess of US$10B.

We know what it takes to build a globally successful company. One thing we’ve learned it doesn’t take is decades of experience.

With Entrepreneur First Graduate, we’re bringing that dedicated methodology to founders at the start of their career journey, so they don’t have to wait to fulfil their potential.

Tractable

AI for accident and disaster recovery

Series D Automotive

Magic Pony Technology

Machine-learning based approaches to video enhancement, prediction and compression.

Exit Media or Entertainment

Core Biogenesis

Using plants as biofactories to produce high-value molecules 10 times cheaper.

Series A Biotechnology

Sonantic

Sonantic has built the world's most expressive and realistic artificial voices

Exit Media or Entertainment

AccuRx

Building the platform to power communications between patients and their healthcare professionals

Series B Healthcare

Kinetix

Democratising 3D animation by making it faster and more accessible for all creative minds.

Seed Media or Entertainment

Frequently Asked Questions

Don't I need more experience to found a company?

Put simply – no. The founders of some of our most successful companies had less than a year of work experience.

Over 10 years, and $10B of portfolio value, we’ve discovered that you don’t become a good founder by being ready – you become a good founder by getting started.

What kind of idea can I work on?

Our programme is designed for those who want to build found high growth, globally important technology companies – the type of company that would benefit from venture capital funding.

Beyond that, we’re sector agnostic. We expect Entrepreneur First graduates to work on companies tackling challenges in climate change, web3, commerce, healthcare, education, industry and more.

Does it cost anything?

No – we pay you a stipend to cover your living expenses. We want the programme to be accessible for everyone. We believe in your potential, so we’re willing to back you from day zero.

How do I know if I’m the right person to join?

The best way to find out if Entrepreneur First Graduate is for you is to apply. We want to see applications from a wide variety of backgrounds, but we’re especially interested in hearing about things you’ve done outside of university (projects, side hustles, competitions, blogs, sporting achievements), as well as your academic success.

What happens if I don't find a co-founder or secure funding?

We’ll help you secure your next role. With access to hundreds of top startups, we’re well-placed to help you navigate your next steps, including giving you access to roles that are under-the-radar.