1st money-in dinner

Promotional flyer for 'Rare Founders' event titled 'First Money-In with Chris Howard,' scheduled for April 25, 2025, from 6 PM to 10 PM, featuring a black-and-white image of a man wearing a black t-shirt and a cap, extending his arm.

real money invested in real businesses

Event date: 25 Apr, 2025 (6pm-10pm)

1 Wimpole Street, Westminster, London, W1G 0AE

Shark-tank style pitching + networking drinks reception

Following the success of Chris’ first “1st Money In” event in October 2024, right after London’s Largest Demo Day on April 14, we’re thrilled to introduce the “First Money In!” Dinner.

Hosted by Chris Howard, a former Entrepreneur in Residence at MIT, Techstars, NEOM, MassChallenge, and The Rattle, this exclusive event will bring together 8 startups and 16 hand-picked investors for a high-intensity pitch dinner.

The experience is designed with carefully controlled psychology, grounded in MIT-researched principles, to create an impactful and dynamic atmosphere.

Event Type: In-person

2024 event stats for Rare Founders showing 30 signed ASAs within 48 hours, 89% of pitched founders funded, all funds transferred within 7 days.

Live-fire investor decisions with no backing out, ever.

Immediate funding with instant credibility from top investors.

Only event where founders pitch for guaranteed real-time investment.

Promotional graphic for RARE Founders Private Pitching Dinner featuring a black grid background, with the title highlighted in yellow, and white and colorful text describing a psychological high-intensity pitch dinner based on MIT research principles, organized by Lewis Silkin.

Who will pitch?

Chris himself will hand-pick 8 founders from those who apply to pitch at London’s Largest Demo Day on April 14th and have not yet raised any investment.

These founders will go through a due diligence process before the event to ensure they are fully prepared to accept investments if investors choose to back them.

Text overlay with information about the number of vetted startups and active investors, featuring logos of RARE Founders, and details about funding criteria.

Who can attend?

Due to the nature of the event, seats at the table are reserved exclusively for founders who are invited to pitch and investors who are personally invited by Chris and Rare Founders.

Promotional graphic featuring Chris Howard, highlighting his achievements as an entrepreneur in residence, who raised over £100M for startups and invested in over 25 companies. Includes logos of MIT, NEOM, techstars, MassChallenge, and an image of Chris Howard smiling, with a grid background and text in black, yellow, pink, and white.

sponsor opportunity

Due to the limited number of seats at the table, we can only invite sponsors who are willing to play the role of active investors, meaning they must be prepared to commit at least £1,000 on the day to the pitching startups.

That said, we do have a few exclusive sponsorship options available for those open to taking on a psychology-driven role. These roles are specifically designed to help sponsors build stronger connections with pitching founders and investors, fostering deeper relationships and increasing their ROI.

If you’re interested, please get in touch with us, and we’ll share more details about these unique opportunities and explain the psychology behind them.