Entrepreneur First (EF)
Entrepreneur First
Status not published
India early deadline 5 October 2026 for first selection round; other hubs have their own deadlines. Equity-free grant while ideating, up to $250K investment once you form a company, up to $5M follow-on.
GIVEN: an equity-free 'Talent Investment' (a grant covering living costs) during the 12-week FORM phase in your local hub, plus access to up to USD 250,000 of equity investment for teams that pass the Investment Committee and progress to the 12-week LAUNCH phase in San Francisco. TAKEN: no equity for the Talent Investment; an equity stake for the USD 250,000 investment, on terms agreed at that point. Talent Investment amounts differ by hub.
You must co-fund 0%.
Entrepreneur First
private · supranational
Deadline: Fixed cut-off dates — India early deadline 5 October 2026 for first selection round; other hubs have their own deadlines. Equity-free grant while ideating, up to $250K investment once you form a company, up to $5M follow-on.
This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.
Moderate — a form and supporting documents.
Who can apply
- Sectors: deeptech, ai
- Stage: idea stage and pre-seed
Designed for individuals before company formation, typically technical or domain-expert founders. You apply alone, not as a team.
How to apply
- Apply as an individual (no co-founder or idea required)
- Interviews assessing technical edge and founder potential
- Kick Off Summit residential weekend
- 12-week FORM programme: co-founder matching and idea development in your hub
- Investment Committee
- 12-week LAUNCH programme in San Francisco for teams that pass
Related reading: How grant deadlines actually work
Source. https://www.joinef.com/
"Equity-free grant to support you while you're still ideating · Up to $250K investment once you form a company"
Last checked against the official page on 5 October 2026
Source: funder's homepage — the programme page was not found
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