2022 Review & Reflection
In 2022, we continued to successfully identify and invest in some of the most talented immigrant founders within the United States. Reviewing 2,591 pitch decks, supporting 45 immigration filings, and making 10 new investments, our team celebrates the progress made amidst a challenging year for the industry. We remain energized and excited about not only the impact of our support, but to a greater extent, the impact our founders have on solving some of the most pressing issues within our society today, while also fueling the American economy through their innovation and job creation.
At Unshackled, we’ve understood from day one that supporting immigrant founders is not just the right thing to do, it is also in the best interest of our country. This means providing access to resources and networks, investing in their businesses, and creating systems that promote their success. And while the state of immigration policy and thereby immigrant entrepreneurship remains complex, we continue to stay optimistic about our mission in helping as many immigrants start companies in the U.S. as we can.
Our work doesn’t stop here. While we are proud to have built the most vibrant community of immigrant founders this industry has seen, we plan on further strengthening those ties through community building both internally and externally to reach more of this unique and thriving network. 2023 is already proving to be another exciting year for Unshackled – We are actively investing and welcome founders to share their visions for the future via our website.
We hope you join us.
The Unshackled Ventures Team
2022 (Public) Portfolio Financings
Luminai (formerly DigitalBrain) gets $16M investment for customer support RPA-like tool | TechCrunch
Aavia, Known for Its Smart Birth Control Case, Adds $3.7M in Funding – Femtech Insider
Faeth Therapeutics raises $47 million to advance clinical trials and feed the fight against cancer
Masa Finance gets $3.5M pre-seed to build its decentralized credit protocol | TechCrunch
Total Investment in Syndicate DAO Tops $28 million After Latest Funding Round - Decrypt
2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 Unshackled Founders
Formally founder, Amelie Vavrovsky joins fellow Unshackled founders in being added to the Forbes 30 under 30 list. Formally has raised over $2 million to date with the mission of streamlining the complicated process of visa and immigration applications. With her background in international policy, law and technology, Amelie curated a service that informs and helps customers execute their visa applications using a combination of computer-assisted paperwork with guidance from lawyers. Formally brings all the necessary stakeholders together to achieve an optimal immigration solution. At Unshackled, we leverage Formally to enhance our immigration support and offering. Check out the product yourself here!
Luminai founder, Kesava Kirupa Dinakiran, continues to be nothing short of extraordinary and has joined the Forbes 30 Under 30 list! We’ve had the pleasure of watching Luminai grow from being an idea share at a pitch competition, to a Series A company helping teams automate internal workflows that has accumulated over $20M from investors like Moxxie Ventures, YC, Underscore VC, and General Catalyst. Read more about Luminai’s journey here.
Q4 Updates
Q4 Portfolio Highlights
Masa has officially launched the first soulbound identity protocol for the Ethereum mainnet! The mainnet launch of Masa Soulbound Identity brings a standardized on-chain identity to web3. The highly-anticipated mainnet launch empowers users to mint a Masa Soulbound Identity, claim a unique .soul name, and generate a web3 credit score. A user's .soul name will serve as the domain name for their identity, and users will be able to trade their .soul names on OpenSea. Masa has seen a tremendous amount of traction, with over 200,000 mints on the testnets since August. We couldn't be more excited to be on this ride with the Masa team for the past 15 months! Read more about the exciting launch here.
Flowbo, a marketplace that connects investors to content creators with predictable platform revenue and provides access to funding for creators, was recently funded by the Korean government to expand their work into Asia.
More here!
WithOthers continues to serve as the platform for the next generation of live creators worldwide, making impact events more accessible and more relevant for everyone. WithOthers provided their platform to empower political leaders, supporters, and voters to amplify their voices during the midterm elections. During this pivotal moment in politics, WithOthers supported 15,000+ fans in 10 different states to join various events with guest appearances from Karen Bass, Senator Alex Padilla, and others. Learn more about their past and future events here!
Potion uses artificial intelligence and deepfake technology to help sales teams create personalized videos in large quantities, resulting in higher meeting bookings and more sales. Co-founded by Andrew Boos and Kanad Bahalkar, Potion partners with large organizations like SAP, Gorgias, and Orum to help them change their approach to outreach. Learn more about the history of Potion here.
PolyGone Systems, an interdisciplinary green tech company designing the first portable and affordable microplastic removal device, exhibited their installation Tides of Plastic, which focuses on the realities of microplastic pollution at the Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture. The installation was highlighted in the Shenzhen Newspaper.
Lynk has successfully deployed, launched, and is currently operating, the world’s second and third commercial satellite-cell-towers in space! Lynk has the world’s only commercial license for satellite-direct-to-phone, and is actively testing satellite connections to standard phones in 17 countries on all 7 continents. This launch has also demonstrated that Lynk’s new deployer system can support the launch of multiple satellites at once on the same ESPA-ring, and paves the way for Lynk to affordably and efficiently launch more satellites in 2023. Read more about Lynk’s news here.
Aavia is excited to be entering 2023 with a strong team laser-focused on building the future of ovarian hormone health. In November, they successfully launched on Product Hunt, as well as announced their fundraise led by 776. Aavia is launching a campus strategy in the new year to continue reaching Gen Z, and is committed to making sure more people can unlock the power of their hormones via their iOS app.
Allocate, a digital investment platform that provides investors a streamlined way to access venture funds and co-investments, today announced a partnership with Dynasty Financial Partners, a provider of back and middle-office outsourced solutions for registered investment advisors (RIAs). The partnership will provide Dynasty network partner RIAs with a digital solution that will give them the ability to invest in venture capital funds on behalf of their clients. The partnership is a major expansion of Allocate’s reach within the wealth management sector, though it has already carved out a significant presence there in its young life. Founded late last year by veterans of the financial and private fund industries, Samir Kaji and Hana Yang, Allocate already works with 46 RIAs managing $116 billion in assets. Allocate also works with wirehouses, private banks, and other financial-services firms. Read more about this exciting partnership here!
Q4 New Investments
Evo Foods, is using cutting edge science and technology to create the next generation of plant based substitutes for animal products. Currently, humanity is dependent on 12 plants and five animal species for 75% of its food. India has over 300 varieties of just Chickpea and overall 65,000+ varieties of edible crops. Founded by Kartik Dixit and Shraddha Bhansali, Evo seeks to promote and unlock the immense crop biodiversity India has to offer to the world and create truly delicious and affordable alternatives from India for the world starting off with replicating eggs on a gastronomical, structural and molecular level. Learn more here!
Stealth tech company with founders focusing on how companies manage and reduce their emissions.
Stealth tech company with founders creating a platform for business users to analyze data from the warehouse in spreadsheets without SQL in 3 minutes
Stealth tech company with founders from Columbia University and Wharton.
Stealth tech company with founder from UCLA
Unshackled Updates
E’mani has grown with the team since 2020 and is now an Associate! With each promotion, she matured as a pre-seed investor and fund operator. Her ability to adapt and execute on behalf of our founders has shown in her stats. Since joining she has reviewed over 3000 deals, supported in closing 3 investments, supported Serrote Law Firm in 60+ filings, and contributed to 3 amazing communities: BLVK VC, Black Women in VC (BWiVC), and VC Platform. Read more about her learnings and areas of interest here.
Unshackled Associate, Ale Maciel, shared her candid yet optimistic reflection about the state of venture in 2022 and what it felt like to enter the industry at a time of high uncertainty. Read more about key learnings and what she is taking with her into 2023 here!
“While this year has been a painful reality check for many veterans in the industry, I believe now is equally as important of a time for those of us new to venture to take a step back and reflect on why we are here, why we want to be investors, and how we can do better collectively. It certainly won’t be easy, this job is humbling, and in this market things will likely get worse before they get better. But while I believe maintaining a degree of healthy skepticism is important, my initial read after a year in venture, is that the best long-term investors AND founders are almost always optimists.”
Continuing with our spirit of transparency in the new year, we outlined some of the most common reasons Unshackled Ventures passes on companies:
⚡️💭 Thinking about starting a company but have questions because of your immigration status? Unshackled's Founding Partner, Nitin Pachisia is offering 15 minute calls to those interested. *Please note these are not pitching conversations - If you would like to pitch please submit your deck here: https://lnkd.in/dkan-rM
Hiring
A comprehensive list of job openings at Unshackled company’s can be founder here → https://unshackledvc.notion.site/Unshackled-Ventures-Portfolio-Jobs-403c15af6dfb4979b83f045a51a711e7
Q4 Hiring highlights
💚 Bolsiyo - Senior front and back end developers (LATAM)
🐶 Dig Labs - Full stack dev
🔋Lumin.ai - Founding PM
💊 Faeth - Food Operations Senior Manager
🌏Formally - Head of Revenue Strategy and Operations
👗 Lily AI - Staff Engineer
📊Pngme - Senior Technical PM
🔐Strac - SDR
👾Inspirit - Math Content Lead (USA)
🏥Pine Park Health - Medical Director
🏗️KwantAI - Account Executive
💰Allocate - Associate Director / Director - Research & Investments