New angel fund aims to help Silicon Valley immigrant founders raise startup funds

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Cromwell Schubarth

Senior Technology Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

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Immigrant startup founders in the U.S. face a Catch 22 in fundraising that a new Silicon Valley angel fund and accelerator is tackling.

Tech workers here on H1B visas are barred from raising funds unless they are working for a certified employer or their company meets certain minimum funding levels already. Raising money for a startup while working fulltime for a company can be tricky, if not completely forbidden by that employer.

Unshackled Fund, founded by Nitin Pachisia and Manan Mehta, plans to employ the founders itself and provide them with workspace in San Francisco or in Palo Alto.

Pachisia and Mehta have raised $3.5 million in funding from a starry list of Silicon Valley investors, including AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant, Palantir co-rounder Joe Lonsdale and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, along with money from top startup investment funds including 500 Startups and First Round Capital.

It's not a lot of money but Pachisia and Mehta say it will be enough to get between 20 and 25 entrepreneurs off the ground, providing them with a steady paycheck and health benefits while connecting them to the prestigious mentors in its investment group.

Cromwell Schubarth is the Senior Technology Reporter at the Silicon Valley Business Journal.