Source - https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/19/a-lof-of-efffing-money/
TL;DR - Entrepreneur First is a “talent-first investor” that offers a new form of pre-seed funding focused on pairing co-founders in an accelerator model.
Helpfulness - 5
Tags - notable investors, new types of vc
Questions addressed:
- What is Entrepreneur First?
- How does it differ from traditional VC and how is it changing the fundraising landscape?
Summary:
- Entrepreneur First is a London-based “talent investor” that funds individuals before they have a startup, then helps them find co-founders and develop and scale an idea.
- The idea is that some startups that should exist don’t due to a lack of available cofounders.
- EF uses an accelerator-like model, with several months of collaboration leading up to a demo day for investors.
- The firm has backed several successful startups, one of which was recently acquired by Twitter and many of which have received follow-on funding.
- EF is now expanding with a new $115 million fund, one of the largest pre-seed funds in history.
- The firm is also attempting to grow its investor ties in Silicon Valley.
- The fund will be largely used for global expansion.
- The new fund also includes institutional investors, who are cautiously trying out the idea of “talent-first investing” for the first time (Reid Hoffman’s Greylock Partners were one of the first on board).
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