Alice Bentinck is a British entrepreneur, investor and technology leader best known as the co-founder and chief executive officer of Entrepreneurs First. She has spent more than a decade helping ambitious people build technology companies from an early stage, often before they have formed a team or even developed a complete business idea. Her work has made her an influential figure in the British and international startup ecosystem.
She is also the co-founder of Code First: Girls, an organisation created to help more women gain coding and technology skills. Alongside her work as a founder and investor, Bentinck has served on boards, contributed to technology policy and co-written a business book about entrepreneurship. Her career now has a strong connection with San Francisco, although her Companies House records continue to state the United Kingdom as her country of residence.
Who Is Alice Bentinck?
Alice Bentinck is the co-founder and CEO of Entrepreneurs First, a talent-investing organisation that supports individuals with the potential to build major technology companies. She founded Entrepreneurs First with Matt Clifford in 2011 after working at McKinsey & Company.
Her approach to entrepreneurship is different from the model followed by many traditional investors. Instead of waiting for a complete startup with a product and founding team, Entrepreneurs First can back talented individuals at a much earlier stage. The organisation helps them meet potential co-founders, develop strong ideas and turn those ideas into investable companies.
Bentinck has also played an important role in expanding opportunities for women in technology through Code First: Girls. Her work across both organisations has centred on identifying talent and giving people the skills, networks and confidence needed to build successful careers or companies.
Alice Bentinck Age and Date of Birth
Alice Yvonne Bentinck was born in July 1986, according to Companies House. This makes her 40 years old as of August 2026. Some secondary sources give 23 July 1986 as her full date of birth, but official Companies House records confirm only the month and year.
Companies House also records her nationality as British and her country of residence as the United Kingdom. Her professional social media accounts currently identify San Francisco as her location, reflecting her growing focus on the American technology sector.
Alice Bentinck Early Life and Family
Bentinck has kept most details about her childhood and family life away from professional coverage. Dependable sources do not provide clear names for her parents or siblings, so these details should not be stated without proper confirmation.
An older feature did refer to her taking a boyfriend home to meet her parents, showing that her family has occasionally been mentioned in media coverage. However, she has generally chosen to keep this part of her life separate from her public career.
Her reputation has therefore been built primarily through her work in entrepreneurship, technology, investment and education rather than through personal publicity.
Alice Bentinck Education
Bentinck studied Management Studies at Nottingham University Business School between 2005 and 2008. Her degree gave her a foundation in business and management before she moved into professional consulting. After completing university, she joined McKinsey & Company in London in September 2009. She worked there as a consultant for just over two years, remaining with the firm until September 2011.
McKinsey became an important stage in her early career because it was there that she met Matt Clifford. The pair later left consulting and went on to build Entrepreneurs First together.
Alice Bentinck Career at McKinsey & Company
Bentinck worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company from September 2009 to September 2011. The role gave her experience in structured problem-solving, business strategy and working with major organisations. However, she later decided that she wanted to build something herself rather than continue a conventional consulting career. That decision led directly to the creation of Entrepreneur First Community Interest Company in 2011.
Her move from consulting into entrepreneurship became the foundation of a career that would focus heavily on early-stage founders and technology businesses.
Alice Bentinck and Entrepreneurs First
Bentinck and Matt Clifford created Entrepreneur First Community Interest Company in September 2011. The original organisation operated as a not-for-profit education company aimed at technology graduates. Over time, the project evolved into Entrepreneurs First, commonly known as EF. Its central idea was to identify people with exceptional potential and help them build companies from the ground up.
Entrepreneurs First differs from many accelerators because applicants do not always need to arrive with a finished idea, a company or even a co-founder. Instead, EF assesses the individual and supports the process of building a team and developing a scalable business.
Alice Bentinck as General Partner
Bentinck served as co-founder and General Partner of Entrepreneurs First from August 2014 until December 2023. During this period, EF expanded beyond its original London base and became more connected with international startup communities.
The programme has supported founders behind companies such as Tractable, Cleo, Aztec, Sonantic and other technology businesses. EF has also attracted backing from prominent technology founders and investors. Bentinck became one of the main public voices behind the organisation’s belief that talent can be identified before a company exists.
Alice Bentinck Becomes CEO
In December 2023, Bentinck became chief executive officer of Entrepreneurs First. Her appointment placed her in the leading executive position within the organisation she had co-founded more than a decade earlier. Her leadership has increasingly focused on San Francisco and the wider United States technology ecosystem. Entrepreneurs First has strengthened its presence in San Francisco as part of its effort to help founders connect with major investors, experienced operators and Silicon Valley networks.
Bentinck’s LinkedIn and X accounts currently state San Francisco as her location, showing how central the city has become to her professional work.
Alice Bentinck and Code First: Girls
Bentinck co-founded Code First: Girls in 2012. The organisation was created to help women gain technical skills and improve access to careers in technology. Code First: Girls has grown significantly since its early years and has worked with universities and major companies. It provides coding education and career pathways designed to reduce the gender gap in technology.
Bentinck remains connected with the organisation as a co-founder and non-executive director. Companies House also records her as a director of CFG Contractors Limited from 28 May 2024. Her work with Code First: Girls has become an important part of her wider contribution to technology education and workforce development.
Alice Bentinck Book
Bentinck co-wrote the book How to Be a Founder with Matt Clifford. The book was published by Bloomsbury and focuses on the practical process of becoming an entrepreneur. It covers major challenges faced by new founders, including choosing a co-founder, developing a strong business idea, raising investment and creating a company capable of growing.
The book reflects many of the lessons Bentinck and Clifford developed through years of working with early-stage entrepreneurs at Entrepreneurs First. It also helped bring their founder-development approach to a wider audience.
Alice Bentinck Board and Advisory Roles
Bentinck has held a number of positions outside Entrepreneurs First. She served as a board trustee at Generation from April 2019 until July 2025. The organisation focuses on helping young people develop skills and build sustainable careers.
She was also involved with Imperial College London. From April 2015 until January 2020, she served on the Computer Science Department Industrial Liaison Board. She later joined the Imperial Innovations Seed Fund Investment Committee from May 2020 until February 2022.
Her experience has also extended into public policy. She has been involved with UK government initiatives concerning artificial intelligence and business leadership, further strengthening her position as a recognised voice in technology and entrepreneurship.
Alice Bentinck Companies House Appointments
Companies House records a total of 16 appointments under the name Alice Yvonne Bentinck. These roles mainly relate to companies and investment entities connected with Entrepreneurs First. Her recent appointments include becoming a director of Entrepreneurs First Capital Limited on 15 July 2025 and Entrepreneurs First Holdings Limited on 16 July 2025. She is also a director of Entrepreneurs First Early Stage GP Limited, Entrepreneurs First Global GP Limited and Entrepreneurs First Operations Limited.
She has held long-standing positions within the organisation’s corporate structure, including a directorship at Entrepreneurs First Operations Limited from June 2014 and Entrepreneurs First GP Limited from January 2015. These roles demonstrate that her involvement in EF extends well beyond her public title as CEO.
Alice Bentinck Husband and Relationship
Alice Bentinck has kept her romantic life private, but one important detail is publicly confirmed. In a 2017 interview, she said that she had recently become engaged and was spending some of her free time planning her wedding and cycling with her fiancé.
Alice Bentinck Social Media Presence
Bentinck has an active presence on X under the handle @Alicebentinck. Her account identifies her as CEO and co-founder of Entrepreneurs First and states San Francisco as her location. As of August 2026, the account has about 14.8K followers. She joined X in December 2009. She also publishes longer thoughts through her personal website and Substack, where she discusses entrepreneurship, ambition, founders, technology and company-building.
Alice Bentinck Today
Alice Bentinck remains one of the central figures behind Entrepreneurs First. As CEO, she continues to focus on identifying talented individuals and helping them build ambitious technology businesses. Her career has combined entrepreneurship, investment, education and public policy. From founding EF and Code First: Girls to advising on technology and writing about entrepreneurship, she has consistently focused on developing people with the potential to create high-impact companies.
At 40 years old, Bentinck continues to work between the British and American technology ecosystems, with San Francisco now playing a major role in her professional life. Her influence comes not only from the companies she has helped build, but also from the founder-first investment model she has spent more than a decade developing.
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