Entrepreneur First (EF), the world’s leading talent investor backed by Reid Hoffman and Greylock, held its biggest-ever investor day in Singapore today, Tuesday, with a total of 24 deep tech companies from around Asia pitching to the world’s leading investors.
Today’s Asia 5 Investor Day marks EF’s fifth Investor Day in Singapore and the first to showcase companies from Bangalore, since the programme was established by EF in India in October 2018.
Co-founders from Bangalore had the opportunity to present alongside their peers from Singapore and Hong Kong, bringing companies across all three EF locations in Asia together for the first time, a testament to the talent investor’s growth in the region. Out of this pool, 16 of the 24 companies were founded in Singapore.
“Being able to bring together our biggest-ever cohort from three of the world’s leading talent hubs is a privilege and a demonstration of the scalability and global impact of the EF programme,” said Matt Clifford, co-founder and CEO, Entrepreneur First.
The deep tech companies showcased at EF’s Asia 5 Investor Day today have made use of emerging technologies such as robotics, material science engineering and artificial intelligence, to solve some of the world’s most critical business and environmental challenges.
These companies are working on solutions that span diverse use cases, from the potential use of microorganisms to maintain environmental quality in extra-terrestrial environments to the deployment of drones for marine and offshore logistics, each with the power to transform and disrupt their field.
“Our continued growth in Asia is proof that deep tech talent is not limited to Silicon Valley. Ambitious outliers with a vision to create something that will fundamentally change the world exists across the globe. The world is still missing some of its best founders and EF is here to help these exceptional individuals in Asia take that leap,” said Alice Bentinck, co-founder and CPO, Entrepreneur First.
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All 24 companies were built from scratch, and are the result of a six-month multi-stage programme pioneered by EF. Once accepted into the EF programme, each co-founder is provided with support through mentoring and funding to help them fulfil their ambition of building a technology company with the potential for global impact.
The EF programme culminates in a region-wide Investor Day, where co-founders are given the opportunity to pitch to a room full of the world’s top investors.
To date, EF has helped over 600 co-founders build over 120 companies in Asia. In early 2019, EF also announced the first close of a new global fund, one of the largest pre-seed venture capital funds ever raised.
This will allow EF to invest in more than 2,200 individuals across the globe over the next three years. – BusinessNewsAsia.com
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