The present disclosure relates generally to methods and compositions useful in cell and tissue biology and therapeutics. In particular, an in vitro method for differentiating pluripotent cells into endothelial colony forming cell-like cells (ECFC-like cells) is provided. A purified human cell population of NRP-1+CD31+ ECFC-like cells is provided, wherein at least some of the cells in the population have a high proliferation potential. Therapeutic and test agent screening methods for using the cell populations of the present disclosure are provided.