LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman invests in UK seed investor

Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford, founders of Entrepreneur First

Entrepreneur First (EF) was founded by Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford in 2012, and it has helped seed over 120 technology companies. Most notably London-based artificial intelligence start-up, Magic Pony, which was bought by Twitter for $150m.

Reid Hoffman, writes:

“When it comes to producing start-ups, few organisations in Europe are more capable than EF. Their approach to company building is unique, offering an alternative entrepreneurial career path for the best and brightest technical talent.”

According to Hoffman, what sets EF apart is that it focuses on recruiting individuals at any stage of their career, from recent graduates and postdoc researchers to engineers and business executives working in tech firms, to help them found a company.

“During the EF programme, company creation spans six months where participants find a co-founder, brainstorm ideas, build product, and recruit teams with the support of EF’s Venture Partners,” writes Hoffman.

The firm has built a network of entrepreneurs and experienced executives across a number of industries.

“In my own personal career, I love to work with products and institutions with network effects,” writes Hoffman.

“Naturally, this has ranged from Linkedin to Facebook to Airbnb to Convoy. At Entrepreneur’s First, I also think that they are building a very interesting network effect — a network of founders, companies, advisors, and financiers. This network effect will very much help the new founders and new companies, as well as helping the existing ecosystem.”

Growing from strength to strength, last year EF expanded its operations to the technology start-up community in Singapore.

Hoffman has joined the join the board of EF.

Greylock Partners led the £9.5m funding, which also included Lakestar Capital, and Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman, the founders of DeepMind.