The X-Factor for startups

London's Entrepreneur First creates new businesses in the capital. But not everybody makes the cut.

846-EF-634

Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck: fuelling innovation
(Image credit: 2017 David M Benett)

Twice a year, Entrepreneur First (EF) brings 100 strangers to its south London headquarters with the aim of turning them into entrepreneurs. As the world's first technology startup accelerator, it is "a kind of X-Factor for startups", says Rowland Manthorpe in Wired.The individuals arrive without teams or ideas, and six months later, some depart as co-founders of brand new companies. Since its establishment in 2011, EF has launched 143 companies with a collective value of more than £400m.

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Alice grew up in Stockholm and studied at the University of the Arts London, where she gained a first-class BA in Journalism. She has written for several publications in Stockholm and London, and joined MoneyWeek in 2017.