小蓝视频色情网页版

Now more than ever before, venture capital firms aren鈥檛 just ATMs.

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Building off the concept credited to Menlo Park firm, investors are increasingly serving as makeshift marketing advisors and product helpers as 鈥渢heir people help your people.鈥� But, with immigration challenges serving as an increasing-in-size hurdle for some founders, a few VCs are outwardly offering assistance beyond monetary help.

In fact, even the team that pioneered 鈥淰Cs-As-A-Service鈥� didn鈥檛 have much to say. When I reached out for comment, (a16z) had 鈥渘othing to share at this point.鈥�

In contrast, outspoken firms such as Palo Alto-based and Boston-based have embraced a particularly immigrant-focused approach.

In fact, these VCs serve as a special network for immigrant founders.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason why people line up outside an event, and there鈥檚 a reason they stay in the party once they get in,鈥� said , the founding partner of .

鈥淎s a venture fund, we have one hundredth of the access than a16z does,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to bring those same resources to our companies because we recognize one to two e-mails from an executive for a company like Airbnb鈥� can make a company move a lot faster.

While many venture capital firms offer to pay legal fees associated with helping an immigrant entrepreneur secure a visa or other legal documentation to stay in the United States, One Way Ventures partner told me that monetary support is not necessarily the issue. Rather it鈥檚 connections and education around the process that founders need help with.

鈥淚n the grand scheme of things of starting a company, it鈥檚 not about the [cost] of an application,鈥� said Zhao. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much more about the mental energy it takes鈥� to address immigration issues.

Venture firm One Way helps founders tackle these obstacles. A popular visa for founders is the , for individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement. Among the questions asked to obtain this visa are 鈥渉ave you judged a major competition鈥� or 鈥渉ave you been featured in reputable press.鈥� These are all points, and factors that boost an immigrant founder鈥檚 odds for success in the application process, Zhao explained.

Even given the challenges, Zhao said he can imagine any VC tacking on immigration services if the firm already has a platform with lawyers advising on general legal help.

One Way invests in early-stage companies, and often takes deal flow from the other outspoken VC firm supporting immigrants: Unshackled. In fact, the two firms have been invested side by side in two companies to date, and .

Unshackled, which raised a $20 million fund to invest solely in immigrant founders, covers 100 percent of the legal fees associated with onboarding. It also connects founders to services. Firm founder Mehta told me that since launching this fund, about 40 startups approach him a week.

鈥淚mmigration support is a critical part of our product,鈥� said Mehta. 鈥淚t is something that has allowed us to file 100 immigration filings in the past four years.鈥� Unshackled provides full immigration support from work authorization visas, to the Permanent Resident Card (also known as the green card). Unshackled works with 11 different visa immigration types.

Unshackled claims it has had a 鈥�100 percent success rate in procuring visas to keep talent working in the U.S.鈥� Since Unshackled mainly invests in pre-seed companies, Mehta said the firm uses its network to help young companies get off the ground.

鈥淲e鈥檙e effectively an immigrant family and friends round,鈥� he said, referencing to the angel network ties that some startups, with U.S. born founders, can use to their advantage.

In a similar vein, early-stage startup also wants to serve as that kind of network.

Legalpad wants immigrant founders to think of its firm as 鈥渢he friend in the U.S. that happens to know a lot about immigration service,鈥� said Legalpad co-founder and COO .

Seattle-based Legalpad uses software and attorney oversight to help speed up the process of securing visas for startup employees. While traditional law firms are cheaper, Itucas said working with those firms can take between four to six months to put together a competitive application for a visa.

Legalpad claims it takes about two months, although at a higher price.

Currently, Legalpad targets companies coming out of accelerators, mostly because an international company doesn鈥檛 have trouble getting recruited to join Y Combinator or 500 Startups. The challenge hits when the company wants to stay in the U.S. after the program ends.

LegalPad declined to disclose its partnerships as of right now, but said it submits about 20 visa applications a month.

Despite this accelerator focus, Itucas said some VCs have taken notice of LegalPad鈥檚 tech-focused approach. In fact, One Way Ventures is an investor in Legal Pad, and it sends its other portfolio companies, all with immigrant founders, to the startup for advice and help.

鈥淲e work with a handful, it鈥檚 not a jaw-dropping number,鈥� of venture capital firms, Itucas told 小蓝视频色情网页版 News.

As for when that number might change?

鈥淔rom a resources point of view, a lot of people are just really scared to even tackle the idea of immigration,鈥� she said. Parts of the immigration process are opaque. Education about the process is hard. Many people don鈥檛 want to offer immigration services because they think it comes with a steep price tag, which Itucas said is a false perception.

Once those roadblocks are overcome, she thinks more people will start offering immigration services.

鈥淲hen you think about it, the process doesn鈥檛 cost much more than a signing bonus,鈥� at a tech company, she said. Say $20,000 to $25,000 to walk someone through the entire immigration process. Often times less. And to Itucas, a venture capitalist spending that much for a founder to stay in the country and build a successful company is a bargain.

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