WHAT TO EXPECT

Cohorts consist of a carefully curated group of exceptional individuals who are committed to starting a company immediately. 

At the start of the program founders receive an equity free Talent Investment (grant)* to cover living costs.

During FORM, the goal is to test cofounder partnerships and ideas at pace as you build a company from day one. You’ll be supported by a team of Talent Investors and our global network of advisors, who will challenge your ambitions and develop your vision of success. 

Throughout FORM, we will push you to obsess about customer development, validating your ideas with customer feedback and traction from the outset. Our goal is to help founders build their initial edge and develop their longer term vision. For those with the biggest ambitions, this will involve getting early traction with US customers and building their vision for that market, which we will support with our network of SF advisors and operators.

Towards the end of the program teams pitch to our Investment Committee for up to $250,000 in funding per team. This is made up of a $125,000 investment from EF, and the opportunity to receive a further $125,000 investment from EF’s third party investment partner, Transpose Platform*.

If you do not form a company or we choose not to invest at IC, we don’t take any equity and you don’t have to repay the grant. Instead you gain access to a global community of alumni to leverage for future success.

*Please see local program investment terms (USA, London, Paris, Bangalore) for specific details.

After passing the Investment Committee, founders from startups across our global FORM sites typically relocate to San Francisco to access and build in the world’s most valuable single market.

Once there, you’ll have the opportunity to work from the EF office with your peers from around the world. 

You’ll be hyperfocused on building and shipping your product while learning from some of the world’s best founders and investors. You’ll also receive tailored advice from an industry leading founder or operator who has deep experience of building and raising in the Bay Area.

After building product traction, we’ll prepare you to raise your Seed round with the help of our dedicated investment team during weekly office hour check-ins. 

This culminates with an in-person Demo Day, previously opened by renowned industry figures including Reid Hoffman and Patrick Collison. You’ll have the opportunity to pitch to a room of some of the best angels and VCs in the world, such as a16z, Khosla, SignalFire, Thrive, and Kleiner Perkins. 

Following Demo Day, you’ll continue to gain exposure to hundreds of top seed VCs and angels across the US, Europe and Asia through our Demo Day online platform.