The news is significant for Singapore because Entrepreneur First has a large presence in the city

Entrepreneur First (EF), a London-based startup builder, announced today the completion of a US$12.4 million funding round led by Greylock Partners. As part of the deal, Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn Co-founder and Partner at Greylock, will join the EF board.

The deal is significant in Singapore because in 2016 EF launched its first cohort and its first batch of startups graduated last March. The company has a fairly large presence in the Singapore startup world.

The other investment firms that participated were Mosaic Ventures, Founders Fund and Lakestar Capital. It also included participation from Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman, the Founders of the artificial intelligence company Deep Mind

Furthermore, a success story for the company, Rob Bishop and Zehan Wang, are investing in the company that brought them together. The duo Founded Magic Pony, a machine-learning-based imaging company that represented EF’s first successful exit when it was bought by Twitter in 2016.

The company said it will use the money to “expand and deepen its operations and will continue to raise and manage venture funds to invest in its portfolio companies.”

Also Read: Reid Hoffman: I think it’s always smart to be terrified

What makes EF unique is how it builds companies. The programme targets scientists, engineers, Phd students and other high-skilled STEM people who do not have a company (maybe an idea, but not a company). It then trains them up on the business side of entrepreneurship.

The hope is that by partnering talented people, they can build the state-of-the-art technology that will eventually become the most important asset of a future company.

“EF’s approach to company building is unique and effective, focusing on recruiting top technologists at any stage of their career to build technically defensible companies. EF has built a vast network of strong operators and company builders, and its program has incubated promising, innovative companies,” said Hoffman in an official statement.

For Singapore, a country that is shifting its startup economy towards deep-technology, this model proves attractive. Oftentimes, the biggest complaint in the city is finding engineering talent capable of executing on ideas. Reverse engineering the process may be a solution to this problem.

Bring the talent together, trust them to find a company later.

An overview of the programme in Singapore

EF is just over a year old, so obviously expectations should be tempered, but in a city full of marketplaces, advertising companies and influencer marketing, it is refreshing to see a list of companies working on satellite laser communications and a revolutionary water treatment solutions.

The first cohort has a dozen companies from about 60 people. It recently opened its next cohort for applications.

Also Read: Singapore has been shifting towards deep tech for awhile, but now it is finally in the open

An in-depth list of the companies to participate can be found here, but here is a quick and dirty overview of what the first batch of companies worked on.

[NOTE: We did not follow up to confirm if every company still exists, but the list on a whole presents an overarching picture of the cool ideas]

  • Lemmis Technologies: A company trying to solve the biggest pain point preventing mass-adoption of virtual reality — motion sickness.
  • SensorFlow: Using sensors to manage energy flow in large buildings to optimise consumption.
  • UI-Licious: A startup building an easy and affordable solution to automatically test websites.
  • HydroLeap: This startup wants to replace an old chemical water-treatment process with an electrical alternative they believe can save the city billions.
  • Immerzen Labs: A startup working on the cutting edge of gaming audio.
  • KroniKare: A mobile solution for people with diabetes and obesity to help them be proactive against chronic wounds that can often lead to amputation.
  • VRcollab: A programme to cater to architects with no tech background to help them create 3D rendering projects more efficiently.
  • MicroSec: A security solution for IoT sensor networks.
  • Ackcio: A wiring solution for monitoring construction sites against shifts in the physical infrastructure that could potentially compromise the project.
  • MovelAI: This company wants to ‘help robots see how humans do’ — aka in a three-dimensional plane instead of the current 2D mapping technology.
  • Souschef: A one-stop-shop for tap drinks that allows people to make a whole variety of drinks from one convenient location.
  • Transcelestial Technologies: This startup is building a a laser-based communication network to help people communicate more efficiently with satellites.

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