Entrepreneur First Increases Investment to $100K for Each Startup in India

Entrepreneur First (EF) is an early-stage talent investing firm that hand-selects exceptionally talented individuals and brings them together to build globally impactful companies from scratch. The global talent investor, which entered India in 2019, has now announced an increase in its initial investment amount from $75,000 to $100,000. This additional funding, which will be invested in each company that is successful at EF’s investment committee, will provide resources and runway to build their product and team ahead of raising their seed round from top global investors. This increase is a direct result of Entrepreneur First’s growing India focus and the exceptional talent pool it wants to nurture in the coming months.

The increase in investment also marks the commencement of EF’s first Graduate program in India which was unveiled in March 2023 to promote entrepreneurship amongst young Indians. The 32 exceptional individuals that have been selected to be part of this cohort come with noteworthy accomplishments. These future founders hail from all over the country, with a significant number of them coming from tier-1 technology institutes.

Entrepreneur First identifies and selects individuals with very high ambition and potential through a meticulous process of evaluation that the company has built over the last decade. The evaluation process rates the individual on various parameters related to intrinsic attitudes, skill sets, and tenacity needed to become leaders of generation-defining startups. The program is customized to each founder, enabling them to leverage their competitive edge and collaborate in an iterative process to form co-founder teams and develop an idea. In the final step, the successful teams are given the tools, advisory, and the required funding to launch their startup until they rapidly grow their idea into an early-stage company.

Talking about EF and the India opportunity, Rahul Samat, Partner and India Head of Entrepreneur First, said, "Given India's status as a rapidly advancing economy, its impact on the startup ecosystem is profound. Our initiatives strive to provide local talent a global platform, equipping them with the necessary resources and guidance to build globally important companies." Rahul added, "The increased funding will facilitate the development of products and teams, preparing them for subsequent investment rounds from top-tier global and local investors.”

CEO and Co-founder of Entrepreneur First, Matt Clifford added "This increased investment stands as a testament to our belief in the Indian market. We believe that a disproportionate share of the next decade’s deep tech giants will be built in India and we want to play a major role in making that happen. At Entrepreneur First, our mission revolves around identifying exceptional talent and empowering them to build world-changing companies that otherwise wouldn't exist."

EF is spearheading a novel form of investment that focuses on individuals, prioritizing the identification, nurturing, and investment in high-potential talents. In slightly over ten years, Entrepreneur First has achieved a remarkable milestone through its programs in London, Paris, and Bangalore, facilitating the growth of thousands of individuals who have established in excess of 600 enterprises worthy of $10B+ portfolio value.

Building across a wide range of sectors, EF India’s portfolio boasts 40+ successful startups such as gamified investment and personal finance platform Fello, which has a user base of over 800,000 people and raised US$4M in their latest funding round, and Beatoven, which harnesses artificial intelligence to empower video and podcast content creators in composing original soundtracks without any prior music expertise.

Setting itself apart from conventional accelerators and VC programs, Entrepreneur First takes a distinctive approach that will empower these 32 exceptionally talented and ambitious individuals to harness their strengths in order to build successful tech companies from the ground up.