Welcome back to the Unshackled Newsletter!
As a team, we’ve been immersed in broadening the avenues through which immigrant founders can connect with us. Whether you are thinking about starting a company, have questions, are a solo founder, or have built your founding team - Immigrant founders can reach us through a variety of pathways:
🌱Pre-Seed ($300-$500k the earlier the better): We are actively leading rounds at the “inception” stage (pre-seed rounds) - Before there's a product, customer, or other social proof. Full immigration support and other resources built for immigrants come with our investment.
👤Residency ($150k for solo founders): The most reliable way for solo immigrant founders to explore their ideas while on a visa in the U.S. We provide $150K, full immigration support, and employment.
🤝Immigreat (Slack community for immigrant founders): Where immigrant entrepreneurs discuss, share, and support each other through the entrepreneurial journey.
🎓Unshackled University Tour: Meet us on tour! We are eager to connect with universities across the US to guide and support current and aspiring immigrant founders where they are.
Simultaneously, our portfolio founders continue to make waves, solidifying their lasting impacts in their respective industries. In lockstep, we are redefining the immigrant founder journey in the U.S. As a community, we hope to provide an avenue by which more immigrant entrepreneurs can find inspiration, recognize their potential in these success stories, and equip them with the tools needed to join us at the table.
In this newsletter, catch up on the exciting updates from the Unshackled Portfolio, get insight into what the Unshackled team has been working on behind the scenes, and so much more!
Thank you for being a part of our community.
The Unshackled Ventures Team
Immigrants Start Here.
Q4 Portfolio Highlights
PolyGone Systems' Co-founders, Yidian Liu and Nathaniel Banks, secured a coveted spot on the esteemed Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Social Impact category. This distinguished recognition underscores their exceptional contributions and commitment to excellence within the field of sustainable design and water treatment. Their accomplishments in reimagining environmental remediation technologies to counter microplastic crises in waterbodies have not only proven successful and raised awareness in larger public audiences, but have also illuminated a path for future innovations in the cleantech industry.
Today recently featured Plantible Foods in their article highlighting, “5 food trends with impressive health benefits that will blow up in 2024”. Plantible’s Lemna/Rubi protein was listed under alternate protein sources highlighting both its benefits in baking and as a meat alternative while addressing its positive climate impact. Learn more about Plantible’s Rubi Protein here!
Google's Tech Equity Collective partnered with Career Karma to build the Black Genius Academy (BGA), which aims to train over 5,000 professionals in software engineering, cybersecurity, and design skills.
Career Karma's Enterprise platform is powering BGA, through software customized for Google to give people an action plan with customized branding, content, and training options in order to enable large enterprises to seamlessly discover, attract, and retain untapped talent at scale. Read more about this exciting partnership here!
Halliburton Labs announced Cache Energy as the newest participant in its collaborative environment. This is part of Halliburton Labs' ambition to advance energy and climate innovation and help early-stage companies by contributing expertise, connections, facilities, and more to help achieve strategic scaling milestones. Cache Energy is developing a new long-duration energy storage solution, which scales to interseasonal durations, through a low-cost solid fuel. Once charged, the storage material stores energy at room temperature, with near zero loss in time and can be safely stored and transported anywhere energy is needed.
Trace is a design/dev tool that helps you generate iOS apps from plain english. The Trace team launched in Q4 with thousands signing up since. Learn more about what Trace is building here!
OXIO, the leading telecom-as-a-service platform, announced three new hires. Two veteran telecom executives will join the company to bolster the executive team as the company aims to reshape the telecommunications industry. Glenn Teuber, the inaugural Chief Operating Officer at Google Fi, will oversee global business operations as COO. He’ll focus on developing a framework for managing OXIO’s core operations, strategic growth and international expansion. Adil Belihomji joins OXIO as Chief Technology Officer after over two decades at Verizon, including roles as the company’s VP of Technology and CTO for Visible, a Verizon sub-brand. Belihomji will shape OXIO’s technology vision and strategy while leading the R&D, engineering and security teams.
Additionally, Zain A. Manekia has joined as Oxio’s Head of Strategic Investments and as independent Board Member. With a proven track record of over 50 billion USD in domestic and cross-border transactions and extensive background in telecommunications and technology business transformations, Manekia will spearhead OXIO's global M&A strategy, initially focusing on the Americas.
Masa is joining the ranks of the many prestigious projects who have hosted their community sale on CoinList, including Solana, Filecoin, Algorand, Near, ImmutableX and many others.This would mark the first portfolio company of Unshackled Ventures to go public, this time in the form of a community coin offering on CoinList (raised over $1.11 billion for 46 projects, with a cumulative market cap of $71.84 billion).
Masa is the world’s personal data network, empowering users to own, share and earn from their data. In the AI era, Masa is building a scalable, secure, and resilient global data market, where millions of developers can build innovative applications using privacy-first user data.
A massive congratulations to the entire Masa team!
Intel Ignite, Intel Corporation’s startup accelerator program for early-stage deep tech startups, announced the 10 companies selected for the third U.S. cohort. Joining the cohort is, Unshackled portfolio company, Carbonara, a platform to measure and reduce the carbon emissions of software.
Congratulations to the Strac team for launching their Endpoint DLP, a comprehensive DLP (Data Loss Prevention) solution protecting SaaS apps, Cloud apps and Endpoints. More on Endpoint DLP here.
In October, Syndicate shared their renewed vision for Syndicate and web3. Key to that vision is their Transaction Cloud and how it radically improves the experience for developers (DX) and their end users (UX) by making web3-powered products easier to build, grow, and use at mainstream scale.
Read their Transaction Cloud deep dive and learn more here!
Landing was recently named by Business Insider as one of the best new social media apps and as 1 of 18 startups disrupting social media! Congratulations to the entire Landing team for redefining what it means to have a community-powered inspiration engine!
Lily AI published their 2024 Retail Roadmap! The report highlights the ever-rising (and often-shifting) expectations of shoppers, and tells how Lily AI helps retailers rise to meet these expectations.Today more than ever, it’s critical that brands inject the essence of consumers’ desires, habits, and trends throughout the entire retail experience.
In this 2024 Retail Roadmap, Lily AI take a deep dive into on-and-offline retail experiences, meeting consumers where they are, and the industry’s outlook as AI booms.
Luiza Villela, Founder of unClassic Foods and a member of Unshackled’s inaugural Residency cohort, was recently featured in Business Insider! unClassic Foods is changing the narrative around plant-based protein with specialty mushroom. Learn more about what Luiza is building here!
Join us in congratulating Aavia co-founders, Aya Suzuki & Alexis Wong for earning a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for consumer technology! Aavia, the visionary hormone health app they created alongside fellow co-founder Aagya Mathur, is transforming lives by offering tailored recommendations for nutrition, fitness, productivity, and more, all based on individual hormone patterns. This recognition is a testament to their dedication and innovation in improving the quality of life for those with ovaries.
Introducing MagicDocs by Unshackled portfolio company, Formally – the ultimate solution for efficient document management! With MagicDocs, experience a revolutionary approach to handling your documents as it effortlessly organizes, renames, summarizes, and extracts key data from any file, all powered by advanced AI technology.
📂 Effortless Organization: Imagine dropping your files into a magic box and getting them back perfectly organized. That's MagicDocs for you.
🔒 Safe and Secure: Your privacy is our top priority; we've got your back with top-notch security.
🤝 Collaboration Made Easy: Share and manage documents with your team effortlessly.
Congratulations to the Formally for this exciting launch!
Celebrate with us as we applaud the TextQL team's remarkable achievements! Not only did they announce their $4.1 million seed round, but they have also joined forces with the National Basketball Association (NBA) Launchpad!
TextQL has unveiled the world's first enterprise-grade AI scientist, revolutionizing data-driven decision-making for companies leveraging their data warehouse. This groundbreaking tool empowers organizations to harness the full potential of their data, facilitating seamless integration and analysis across various platforms.
TextQL's innovative approach involves building an ontology of your enterprise data warehouse, intelligently mapping tools in your data stack to the everyday language of your business operators. This process enables effortless access to information from data catalogs, semantic layers, and BI tools, all while triggering workflows in other solutions – all within a unified interface.
Congratulations to the TextQL team on these remarkable strides forward!
GridRaster had the pleasure of hosting a comprehensive workshop and demonstration at Warner Robins Air Force Base, showcasing their cutting-edge work on 3D AI and XR solutions for the US Air Force. This event attracted over 40+ attendees from a range of DoD agencies, such as US Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as leading commercial industry partners including Lockheed Martin (Space, Sikorsky, RMS and ATL), Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Honeywell, Delta Airlines and others. Read more about this event and how GridRaster is revolutionizing readiness with their AI and XR technology here!
Lynk Global, Inc. (Lynk), the world’s leading satellite-direct-to-standard-phone (“sat2phone”) telecoms provider, and Slam Corp. (NASDAQ: SLAM), a special purpose acquisition company (“Slam”), announced that they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement under which Slam will combine with Lynk. Upon completion, the combined company will operate as Lynk Global Holdings, Inc. and its common stock is expected to be publicly listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “LYNK”.
Lynk’s patented and commercially-licensed sat2phone technology is compatible with any unmodified cellular device from 2G to 5G, and is positioned to be compatible with future generations of mobile devices. The company’s technology has been tested and proven in over 25 countries, on all seven continents, and Lynk has signed 36 full commercial contracts with partners to provide coverage in approximately 50 countries.
Q4 New Investments
We are thrilled to welcome Ajit Ghuman, Akhil Gupta, and the entire Monetizely team to the Unshackled community! Monetizely is the unCPQ platform. Unlike regular CPQ software, which typically takes months to implement, Monetizely's pricing models are ready for quoting and contracting in just minutes. Monetizely adds an out-of-the-box, UI-based system for iterating pricing models that cuts the CPQ implementation middle person and empowers revenue operations to launch and iterate faster.
Unshackled Updates
Unshackled Ventures was featured on the Nasdaq Tower in NYC! 🗽We are proud to be recognized as the preeminent partner for breaking boundaries and barriers in service of accelerating immigrant ambition. This marks a historic milestone, as Unshackled Ventures is the first fund to secure capital from IBank California, a CA fund backed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).
The Nasdaq Tower, an iconic symbol of American financial prowess and economic vitality, embodies the contributions made by people who came to this country with a vision to start and build something extraordinary.This achievement not only highlights our commitment but also celebrates the diverse tapestry of dreams and innovations woven by immigrant entrepreneurs. At Unshackled Ventures, we are excited to be part of the next great era of the American dream.
Deep gratitude to IIE.VC & Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center for their continuous support and acknowledgment of diverse Emerging Managers in Venture Capital!
Welcome Emily Huang, to the Unshackled team! Emily is joining us from Canopy, a SPV and fund administration platform, where she served as the Chief of Staff and Head of Operations. She brings a deep passion for the startup ecosystem as well as experience as an operator to Unshackled as the newest member of our team. Prior to Canopy, she helped scale startups during her tenure in management consulting.
Emily has a deep compassion for our mission of enabling immigrants to start and grow businesses, having grown up in Taipei, and moved to the United States on her own at the age of 17 to study applied math and neuroscience at Princeton University. She is based in NYC, and will focus on leading operations (people, finance) within Unshackled, and supporting founders on their journey to building successful companies.
A friendly reminder: Applications for our 2nd cohort of Residency, tailored for solo immigrant founders, are closing this Friday, March 1, 2024, at 5:00 pm PST. Last year, we empowered 7 founders across diverse industries. Since joining Residency, they’ve received $150K in capital, immigration support, and more. Apply today!
We are looking for a Growth Hacking Intern to join our team! 🌐 ⚡
This remote internship is ideal for a college student passionate about entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and supporting immigrant founders through the unique challenges and opportunities they face.
As our Growth Hacking Intern, you will work closely with our team to devise and implement innovative strategies that drive rapid and sustainable growth. This opportunity is optimal for students seeking course credit.
📆 Duration: 3 or 6 months, beginning as soon as possible.
⏳ Application Deadline: March 10, 2024
More details here: https://lnkd.in/gck_WwfG
At Unshackled, we aim to empower the next generation of immigrant entrepreneurs. As part of that mission, we are eager to connect with universities across the US to guide and support current and aspiring immigrant founders. Unshackled Ventures is excited to announce our 2024 University Tour! Whether in person or virtual, we hope to have the opportunity to speak with and support the students in your network.
More information on the different ways Unshackled can activate and engage on your campus can be found here.
Please note: Limited spots are available for 2024 - secure your university date!
Immigreat is the preeminent community for immigrant founders, by immigrant founders. The vision for the Immigreat Community is simple: Immigrant founders connect with one another and build powerful relationships. To learn, share, and accelerate each others’ success.
To join, please sign up here.
Hiring
💼 Career Karma - Head of People
🚹 Maximus - Growth Product Manager
🌊 PolyGone - Lead Researcher
🛍 Lily AI - Multiple open roles
📑 LiveDocs - Founding fullstack engineer
🔁 Aavia - Engineering Manager & Senior Backend Engineer
⚖️ Formally - Multiple open roles
🔵 BlueUrbn - Product Designer (UX/UI) & Business Developer
⚕️Pine Park Health - Multiple open roles
🛰 Lynk - Multiple open roles
💻 Strac - Software Engineer & Software Engineer Intern