Entrepreneur First Formally Unveils Second-Singapore Startup Cohort at Investor Day 2018

Entrepreneur First Formally Unveils Second-Singapore Startup Cohort at Investor Day 2018

[Singapore, 17 January 2018] Global startup builder Entrepreneur First (EF) has officially announced its second cohort of startups at its bi-annual Investor Day in Singapore. EF was founded by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck in London. Since 2011, Entrepreneur First has worked with over four hundred individuals and has produced one hundred startups which are now worth more than US$1 billion. 

The company builder expanded to Singapore in 2016 after an anchor investment from SGInnovate, the Singapore government’s investment programme that supports deep tech startups. Its inaugural Investor Day in March 2017 debuted its first cohort of twelve startups, including Transcelestial Technologies and MicroSec. One year on, all twelve have been offered term sheets and funding from venture capital firms such as Cocoon Capital, Wavemaker and  SGInnovate.

At its Investor Day on January 16 2018, fourteen teams took to the stage at Google’s Singapore headquarters to pitch to an audience of angel investors, venture capitalists and other prominent figures in the Asian tech scene. The latest cohort of promising startups include See-Mode Technologies, Hertzwell and TransferFi. 

“Investor Day 2018 comes as the end of a long and meaningful journey for everyone involved” said, Alice Bentinck, Co-Founder of EF. “What you saw today was a collection of visionary individuals with extraordinary ambitions. We’re very proud to have worked with them over the last six months, helping them build their companies,  and are delighted to be unveiling such an ambitious cohort as we mark our second successful year in Singapore.”

Alex Crompton, Director of EF Singapore, added: “They joined us as strangers six months ago, without teams or fully fledged ideas, and now join our global community as leaders and visionaries for a better future. We’re immensely proud of their commercial potential and we look forward to their contributions to Singapore’s economy.”

EF’s entrepreneurship programme is touted as the ‘first of its kind’ in the world that accepts candidates pre-team and pre-ideas, with individuals selected purely based on their skills and domain expertise. Their focus is to help inidviduals find a co-founder, develop a commercially viable idea, and build a company from scratch.

EF’s Singapore programme comprises two three-month phases. During the first three months, each participant receives a monthly stipend of S$5,000, and focuses on finding a co-founder and developing a commercially viable idea. Should a startup be successfully formed after the first phase, EF will invest a further S$25,000 for an 8 percent equity stake. In the second phase, teams will focus on product development and customer traction. In addition to pre-seed funding, mentoring and advice from the EF team and top entrepreneurs, EF also provides work spaces, legal and administrative support. 

Lining up its plans for the future, EF will continue to guide the second cohort startups through fundraising and hiring over the next six months. Concurrently, EF’s third cohort is set to commence on 29th January 2018 and registration for the fourth cohort is open as of 1st January 2018. Interested applicants can apply directly at https://www.joinef.com/.

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About Entrepreneur First

Entrepreneur First (EF) is a London and Singapore-based company builder which helps the world’s most ambitious individuals in starting their own technology companies, from scratch. People are leaving prestigious institutions such as Oxford, Stanford, Google and Goldman Sachs to start their own companies on the EF programme. EF is the best place to find a co-founder, build a company and access the world’s best investors. We’ve helped build over 100 technology companies, collectively worth over US$1 billion.  

Founded in 2011 by Matthew Clifford and Alice Bentinck, EF is backed by Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn) – who sits on EF’s board – and Greylock Partners, Mosaic Ventures, Founders Fund, Lakestar and some of the world’s best entrepreneurs. In 2016, Matt and Alice were awarded an MBE for services to business in the United Kingdom, in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

EF’s 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 US$150 million in June 2016. After four years’ operating exclusively in London, EF announced its expansion to Singapore establishing a partnership with SGInnovate.  

About SGInnovate 

At SGInnovate, we believe that Singapore has all the resources and capabilities needed to tackle ‘hard problems’ that matter to people around the world. As part of our Deep Tech Nexus Strategy, we are focused on adding tangible value to the Singapore deep tech startup ecosystem in two key areas – development of Human Capital and deployment of Investment Capital. With the support of our partners and co-investors, we back deeply technical founders through equity-based investments, access to talent, and support in building customer traction. Our efforts are prioritised around transformational technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and MedTech, which represent impactful and scalable answers to global challenges. SGInnovate is a private-limited company wholly owned by the Singapore Government. 

Investor Day: EFSG2

Here are the 14 startup teams that make up EF Singapore’s 2nd cohort:

42LAB

42LAB is revolutionizing the teaching of biotechnology by creating portable, affordable and user-friendly biotech lab tools for students and teachers.

Affable

Affable is using AI to unlock the potential of influencer marketing, with an end-to-end platform that automates the discovery of influencers, management of influencer campaigns, as well as calculating the impact of each campaign.

BetaSight Technologies

BetaSight is transforming diagnostic capabilities for health conditions. Through the use of Virtual Reality headsets, they are able to make health diagnostics cheaper, more accurate, and more engaging for patients. 

Hertzwell 

Hertzwell is developing a 3D imaging radar for driverless vehicles, making them safe and scalable. Hertzwell’s high resolution radar uses aerospace grade technology and intelligent signal processing algorithms to allow its radars to see in all weather conditions.

INVOLT

INVOLT is developing next-generation energy storage technology. They are making a hybrid ultracapacitor that can be used 20 times longer and charges 10 times faster than any existing battery. 

KINEXCS

Kinexcs builds medical devices to enhance post-surgical rehabilitation.

Medios Technologies

Medios Technologies uses deep learning to enable every doctor to scan and detect diabetic retinopathy in the absence of a specialist. Medio’s platform improves the accuracy of diabetic retinopathy diagnostics and enables instant results.

Medo

Medo is developing a technology that can interpret common emergency ultrasound scans in real time. Medo has built a diagnostic tool that enables critical imaging to be timely, accurate and universally accessible. 

Portcast

Portcast improves the profitability of shipping routes by predicting demand. This is used to optimize utilization of capacity for shipping companies. 

Qritive

Qritive makes cancer diagnosis faster, more affordable and more accurate. They have built an AI-driven platform to help pathologists analyse microscopy and text in patient data. 

RESync Technologies 

RESync Technologies is developing smart energy management solution for systems with renewable energy resources. Consisting of onsite hardware and cloud-based IoT solution, RESync’s smart energy controller saves up to 30% of energy costs.

See-Mode Technologies

See-Mode’s technology allows doctors to predict strokes and save lives. This is done through combining computer vision, artificial intelligence, and computational fluid dynamics, allowing neurologists to decide the optimal treatment for every patient. 

TransferFi 

TransferFi (TFi) is revolutionizing energy distribution by creating the world’s first long-range, safe and efficient wireless power network.

VEBITS AI

VEBITS uses cutting-edge computer vision and deep learning technologies to understand, model, and improve driver behavior. VEBITS’ hardware will be fitted onto 2000 buses over the next 18 months and can help fleet companies increase profits by 40%.