Entrepreneur First (EF), a global talent investor, has announced a total pre-seed investment of $440,000 in eight cutting-edge tech start-ups from its fourth cohort in India.

As part of the company’s Demo Day, EF introduced these innovative start-ups - Expertia, Neuropixel, Fello, Subconscious Compute, Immunito AI, UngearVR, Aspiro and Rightbot that are powered by new-age technologies such as Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Virtual Reality to top early-stage investors in the country for their next round of funding.

“The founders at EF India are pushing the boundaries of how technology can be leveraged to solve real world problems. And the fourth cohort is no different - from smart recruitment for SMEs to AI-driven automated apparel cataloguing to revolutionising antibody discovery and immersive experiences, these start-ups show are well poised to disrupt their industries. Despite the global challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, we are seeing a steady influx of aspiring Indian entrepreneurs keen to build their dream tech start-ups. EF provides the best platform to connect brilliant minds in tech to the best minds in business, together with the right mentorship and financial backing” Esha Tiwary, General Manager, India at Entrepreneur First told BusinessLine .

Since its launch in India in January 2019 with an investment allocation of $25 million, EF has supported more than 200 talented individuals in their entrepreneurial journey. The company has invested and facilitated a total investment of $5 million in Indian start-ups over the last two years.

EF has seen a 100 per cent increase in applications received since its first cohort which had 800 applications, which has grown to 1,800 for the most recent cohort. For each cohort, EF selects around 50 potential founders and helps them find co-founders among themselves. EF invests pre-seed in selected start-ups and those founders then move to the second stage of the program, which involves building the product, expanding the team and deploying with early customers. Finally, once the founders are ready, they meet early-stage investors for their next round of funding.

With its presence in six global markets, EF pioneered the concept of talent investing – finding and funding talented individuals – pre-company, pre-team, and most often, even pre-idea. EF has built over 300 technology start-ups that have created more than 3,000 jobs worldwide since its inception in 2011.

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