Entrepreneurs First Raises $200M to Expand San Francisco Company-Building Operations

Entrepreneurs First, the global "pre-idea" talent investor and company-builder headquartered in San Francisco, raised $200 million in fresh capital on March 11 to accelerate its bet that the Bay Area is the definitive launchpad for the world's most ambitious founders.

The round drew backing from a constellation of prominent technology figures, including Stripe co-founders John and Patrick Collison, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Claire Hughes Johnson, Charlie Songhurst, Sara Clemens, Danny Rimer, Matt Cohler, and institutional investor Greylock. Reid Hoffman was also listed as a participant in some coverage of the round.

"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," said Alice Bentinck, co-founder and CEO of Entrepreneurs First.

The raise arrives as EF reports its portfolio of backed startups has surpassed $16 billion in combined valuation, up from $3 billion in 2021. The firm attributes much of that growth to a strategic pivot it made in 2024: requiring all pre-seed-funded companies to relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area before their seed rounds. According to EF, the move has cut the average time to raise funding in half and doubled startup valuations. All EF companies now incorporate in the US and are expected to build from San Francisco from pre-seed onwards.

Bentinck described the shift in terms that go beyond geography. "The Bay Area program is not just about proximity to capital," she said. "It changes the ambition gradient. Founders move faster, think bigger and compete on a global stage from day one."

Matt Clifford, co-founder and Chairman, pointed to the company-building infrastructure EF wraps around its recruits as the core of the model. "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," he said.

Founded in 2011 by Bentinck and Clifford, EF began investing in 2015 and operates what it calls a pre-idea model: backing individuals before they have a co-founder, a team, or a business concept, then guiding them through each stage of company formation. One outlet described it informally as the "CAA for startups," a nod to the talent-agency dynamic at the heart of its approach.

To source that talent, EF deploys full-time recruiters at Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, Yale, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, and UT Austin, as well as top universities across Europe and India. Selected participants enter intensive company-building programs in the US, Europe, and India; those who form viable companies receive pre-seed investment from EF and then make the move to San Francisco for the fundraising and scaling phase.

The $200 million will fund continued expansion of that model, with EF deepening its San Francisco operations while maintaining its global recruiting pipeline across three continents.