LinkedIn's co-founder is investing in a UK startup hub

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has invested in UK startup hub, Entrepreneur First, through his venture capital firm Greylock Partners.

It led a $12.4 million funding round for the hub, and was joined by Lakestar Capital and the founders of Deepmind, as reported by Bloomberg.

Hoffman explained why he invested in the hub, saying: "When it comes to producing startups, few organizations in Europe are more capable than EF. Their approach to company building is unique, offering an alternative entrepreneurial career path for the best and brightest technical talent.

"Unlike a traditional accelerator and incubator, EF focuses on recruiting individuals at any stage of their career, from recent graduates and postdoc researchers to engineers and business executives working [in] tech firms, to help them found a company.

He added: "In my own personal career, I love to work with products and institutions with network effects. Naturally, this has ranged from Linkedin to Facebook to Airbnb to Convoy. At Entrepreneur First, I also think that they are building a very interesting network effect - a network of founders, companies, advisors, and financiers. This network effect will very much help the new founders and new companies, as well as helping the existing ecosystem."

Hoffman will join Entrepreneur First's board of directors.

Founded in 2011 by Alice Bentick and Matt Clifford, Entrepreneur First aims to help individuals find co-founders, develop an idea and access investment. Bentinck said: "We've built 100+ startups, had two >$100m exits and have seen 60% of our seed funded companies reach Series A."

It is currently based in London and Singapore, and boasts of successes such as Magic Pony, an AI startup acquired by Twitter in 2016. The acquisition happened 18 months after the founders met on the Entrepreneur First programme.