our network

At firstminute, we're looking for the next generation of talent magnets at seed and across all sectors. We use our networks and our hussle to turbocharge them to Series A and beyond.

But what do we bring to founders? Well first and foremost, we see ourselves as collaboration catalysts. We bring founders into our community and help them make the very most of it.

There is empathy, intuition and chemistry at play here. The Founders become like charged particles bouncing between energy fields. We believe the firstminute community has the diversity and depth to help out all its members.

But what is that community?

firstminute's investors

firstminute has a stable of bluechip institutional investors, including several multi-stage global investment firms. The jewel in our investor base is our successful operator backers, which includes 130 unicorn founders.

We love them because they have been there in the trenches and they know what it's like for founders and can really help supercharge success. These are our people. They come to our parties and events.

So do you as a founder want to be part of the same team as people like Google’s Eric Schmidt, SciFi's Nellie and Max Levchin and Checkout's Guillaume Pousaz?

Founders Forum

firstminute's co-founder is Brent Hoberman, who two decades ago was co-founder and CEO of lastminute.com. The business went public in 2000 and in 2005 acquired by Sabre for $1.1bn, one of Europe's first exited unicorns.

The following year, Brent co-founded an initiative to convene successful technology founders in Europe. Twelve years later, Founders Forum has become one of tech's deepest and most long-standing ecosystems, attracting superstar founders, heads of state, academics, thought-leaders and investors.

In the years that followed, ancillary businesses were spawned under the 'Founders' umbrella:

• Founders Forum

• Founders Factory

• Founders Intelligence

• Founders Keepers

• Founders Pledge

These businesses have partnered with and advise a global network of founders, governments, corporates and non-profits.

firstminute sits as an independent cousin to these businesses, all situated together in the same open-plan office in London.

Portfolio

firstminute now has 121 companies in its portfolio across two funds and that's a community in itself.

We have companies in pretty much all sectors, from consumer to healthtech to enterprise who all discuss industry trends. We have companies at all different stages, from those just beginning to those raising pre-IPO growth rounds.

There is a vibrant whatsapp group where founders help each other out and answer questions. Our founders care about the firstminute community and want to give back.

We also do regular curated dinners with founders and once a year do a retreat where we get everyone together in person, to support and learn from each other. You won't be lonely with the firstminute founder community behind you.

firstminute team

Our final community is the 23-strong firstminute team, who are there to champion you in the world and fight your corner.

Our job is to help connect you with the rest of our community, if you want, but also be your primary contact point.

We'll go the extra mile for you, super charged with empathy and giving you the right help at the right moment.

While we think we might just be the hardest working Seed fund you'll meet, we're a fun bunch to spend time with as well, we promise.