Entrepreneurs First (EF), a global talent investor and company builder, has announced it has raised $200 million of fresh capital from a group of veteran technology founders and investors including investors like Reid Hoffman, John and Patrick Collison, Eric Schmidt, Claire Hughes Johnson, Charlie Songhurst, Sara Clemens, Danny Rimer, and Matt Cohler, alongside leading institutional investors including Greylock.

With $200 million in fresh capital, EF is doubling down on its core thesis: the world has more exceptional founders than it realizes. EF identifies exceptional individuals at the earliest stage and equip them with the peer group, structure, and early capital required to build globally significant companies that would not otherwise exist.

Also Read: Karnataka Installs 25-qubit Quantum Computing System

Building across a wide range of sectors, EF India boasts a portfolio of 50+ successful startups across industries and sectors. Under Rahul Samat’s leadership, EF India continues identifying exceptional technical and entrepreneurial talent and guiding them from day one to find a co-founder, develop an idea, build a product, take it to market, and raise their first round of funding to build globally important companies.

EF’s global portfolio of companies is now collectively valued at over $16 billion, up from $3 billion in 2021 when they last raised. “We have raised this capital to double down on what we do best: identifying extraordinary individuals early and helping them build outlier companies from scratch,” says Alice Bentinck, co-founder and CEO of EF.

“Once we have identified the talent, our role is to create the environments, peer groups and standards that push exceptional people to operate at the edge of their capabilities”, says Matt Clifford, Co-Founder and Chairman, EF.

Also Read: Google Acquires Cloud Security Startup Wiz

EF actively taps potential founders from leading universities, including Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Yale and in India, institutes like IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, and BITS Pilani, among others. Selected individuals join EF’s intensive company-building programs in Europe, India, and the US.

Today, all EF companies are incorporated in the US and are expected to build from San Francisco from pre-seed onwards, maximizing their chances of becoming global category creators and leaders. Companies in the recent Bay Area cohorts raised up to $15m in seed funding within two weeks of completing the program.

“India continues to be one of the deepest pools of technical and entrepreneurial talent in the world”, says Rahul Samat, Partner and General Manager, Bangalore, EF in India.

“We have raised this capital to double down on identifying extraordinary individuals early and helping them build outlier companies from scratch. We are one of the only platforms in India that enable founders to build US-native companies from day one, giving them the structure, network, and capital to compete globally from inception.”

Also Read: India's Software Exports Reach $ 222 Billion in 2024-25

EF India has played a crucial role in identifying and backing some of the country’s leading startups, such as Unbox Robotics, Unsiloed AI, Sidecar AI, Aule Space, and many more. Some of which have gone on to secure funding from world-leading investors such as Long Journey Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Uncorrelated Ventures, Matrix Partners, SOSV and Pi Ventures.

In 2024, EF began relocating all pre-seed-funded companies to the Bay Area ahead of their seed rounds. Since then, founders have seen material improvements in speed, execution, and fundraising outcomes. On average, time to raise has halved, and valuations have doubled.

Entrepreneurs First is backed by serial entrepreneurs and prolific technology investors, including Reid Hoffman, Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, Founders Fund, Greylock, John and Patrick Collison, Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman. New to this round are founders and investors like Aidan Gomez, Barney Hussey-Yeo, Danny Rimer, Eric Schmidt, Jeffrey Dean & Heidi Hopper, Jeff Hammerbacher, Mati Staniszewski, Matt Cohler and Nick McKeown.