London-based Entrepreneur First Launches In Bengaluru To Help Start-ups

Entrepreneur First (EF), the technology company builder, has launched in Bangalore. The city, long heralded as India’s start-up capital, has rapidly expanded over the years to develop a conducive environment for ideas, businesses and technology to flourish.  
 
EF’s six-month programme brings together the most ambitious individuals, helps them find their co-founders, develop a differentiated approach, and fundraise from the world’s best investors. Bangalore marks EF’s third location in Asia, following Singapore and Hong Kong. It is also EF’s sixth global location, following London, Berlin and Paris. 

EF will invest around $55,000 in the companies developed during the bi-annual programme, while also providing cohort members with a monthly stipend of $2,000 as they develop business ideas in the first three months.
 
Segments that EF will primarily focus on include defensible technology, AI, machine learning, robotics, as well as the exciting opportunities for deep tech consumer companies in India. Graduating founders can expect to pitch to leading regional and global investors at Investor Day in Singapore next July, alongside their counterparts from EF’s Hong Kong and Singapore programmes. 

“Bangalore is well-known for its brilliant tech talent and entrepreneurial spirit. With our emphasis on deep tech, we are truly excited about the possibilities in India and believe that the talent pool here is ripe to create some of the world’s next biggest and most important companies,” said Anne Marie Droste, EF Global Expansion Director. “Since we entered Asia 3 years ago, we have witnessed a very encouraging glimpse of what the most talented and ambitious individuals from India can achieve at our programme. By setting up a local EF programme in Bangalore, we can access even more of such individuals, especially technologists, and help them take that first leap towards entrepreneurship.”

Nicknamed the “Silicon Valley of India”, Bangalore has seen a meteoric rise on the world stage, having been named the most dynamic city in 2017 by the World Economic Forum. According to Startup Genome, Bangalore’s startup ecosystem is valued at $19 billion, with an estimated 1,800-2,300 active tech startups. The past decade has seen it shift from a purely skill-based factory model to a more startup mindset. There is a genuine interest in tech and an ability to attract highly-skilled tech workers.

To date, EF has helped build over 150 technology companies, collectively worth almost $1.5 billion. Notable alumni include London-based startup Magic Pony, a startup that uses machine-learning technology to improve the quality of images and video footages, which was acquired by Twitter for $150 million in June 2016 - just 18 months after the co-founders met on EF.  

EF Bangalore officially starts on the 28th of January 2019 and they are targeting to recruit up to 50 individuals for its inaugural cohort.