Unshackled, an investment fund based in Palo Alto, California, backed by 80 of America’s most influential investors, is offering participants in the Massachusetts Global Entrepreneur-in-Residence (GEIR) program an opportunity to take advantage of its investment capital. The partnership brings two innovative organizations together which seek the same mission: to create world-changing companies by enabling and supporting early stage immigrant founders in the U.S.
Until now, international students graduating from premier universities in the U.S. were met with limited options to explore their entrepreneurial ambitions. This partnership is another step to offering the brightest international students attending a university in the U.S. the opportunity to build the next great company.
Through the GEIR, these global entrepreneurs are eligible for a unique joint appointment at the school — serving as university employees who mentor student startups in addition to running their own companies — qualifying them for visas.
Unshackled founders Nitin Pachisia and Manan Mehta (pictured above) have seen numerous immigrant founders graduating from universities like MIT, Harvard, and Babson, who need a broader program to help support their entrepreneurial dreams. With the GEIR partnership, they can remain in Boston and still take advantage of Unshackled’s investment capital, access to Silicon Valley, and their highly influential network of LPs and advisors, with the possibility for further visa sponsorship.
Unshackled is offering early-stage (“friends and family”) investment and access to their premier Silicon Valley ecosystem. In this structure, startup teams can raise their early rounds from other investors, in addition to, or instead of Unshackled. More on the terms can be read here.
Without programs like GEIR and Unshackled allowing international students to remain in the U.S. after they graduate, they would have started their companies elsewhere or not at all.
For more information about the GEIR program or to apply to participate, go to http://vdc.umb.edu/geir/.