Unshackled Ventures

About

Unshackled Ventures is the only early-stage venture capital fund that exclusively backs immigrant founders in the United States, providing seed capital, visa sponsorship, and comprehensive immigration support ¹². The firm was founded in 2014 by Manan Mehta and Nitin Pachisia, both of whom experienced firsthand the difficulties of starting companies while navigating U.S. immigration policies ³. Mehta, born in Silicon Valley to immigrant parents, previously ran marketing at ed-tech startup Kno (acquired by Intel in 2013, raised $90M+ from a16z, First Round Capital, and Floodgate) and worked as an investment banker handling $3B in transactions including Skype’s $1.9B acquisition ⁴. Pachisia, an Indian immigrant, launched a startup in 2012 and spent six months resolving visa transfer issues; the two met while working at Kno, where Pachisia served as VP of Finance & Controller ³⁵.

The firm has raised approximately $60M across three funds: Fund I was $5M, Fund II was $20M (announced May 2019), and Fund III was $35M (closed June 2023) ³⁶⁷. Fund III more than doubled the firm’s assets under management and is 73% institutionally backed, with LPs including Cambridge Associates, Cendana Capital, Emerson Collective, California IBank, and Sorenson Impact Advisory ⁷⁸. The firm also allocated $5M from Fund III toward Eighteen150, a founder-in-residence program for solo immigrant entrepreneurs at the earliest stages ⁸.

A key structural differentiator is that Unshackled employs immigration attorneys as General Partners (Michael Serotte and Rita Georges), making legal immigration counsel part of the firm’s founding team rather than an outside service ¹⁹. The firm has completed over 300 immigration filings across 14 work-authorization categories with a 100% success rate ⁹. Visa sponsorship and immigration support are provided at no cost to portfolio founders ⁹.

As of 2025, Unshackled has invested in over 100 companies and 250+ entrepreneurs from 35 countries, creating over 1,100 jobs ⁸¹⁰. Portfolio companies have collectively raised over $730M in follow-on capital from firms including First Round, a16z, Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Canaan, Khosla Ventures, and Social Capital ⁸. The firm reports a 72% graduation rate from pre-seed to seed ¹⁰. In 75% of its investments, Unshackled was the first and only check ¹¹. No Unshackled-backed founder has been forced to return to their home country due to immigration issues since the firm’s inception ⁸.

The current team includes Manan Mehta (Founding Partner), Shaherose Charania (Partner, joined June 2025), Eric Ries (“Incorruptible” Partner), Alexis Zamira Maciel (Principal), Fernanda Sesto (Investment Analyst), Michael Serotte (Immigration Partner), and Rita Georges (Immigration Partner) ¹. Nitin Pachisia now serves as Partner Emeritus ¹. In November 2025, the firm announced that Eric Ries, creator of The Lean Startup, joined as an “Incorruptible” Partner in their next fund, bringing Lean Startup methodology to Unshackled’s Day Zero founder support and helping founders define missions aligned with long-term outcomes ²³. The firm operates from Silicon Valley, New York, and Florida, with portfolio companies nationwide ¹².

Stated Thesis

Unshackled Ventures publicly describes itself as investing in “visionary immigrant founders at the earliest stage,” providing the “friends and family” capital that immigrant entrepreneurs often lack ²¹⁰. The firm states it is “industry and vertically agnostic,” focusing on the founder rather than a specific sector ¹¹¹².

The firm’s self-reported investment criteria require at least one immigrant founder, preferably already located in the United States, building a company selling to North American customers ¹³. They state they invest at “founder-problem fit, not problem-product fit,” and that 60% of commitments happen before the company is even incorporated ¹¹. Typical first checks are $300K-$500K at the pre-seed stage for pre-seed rounds under $1M, seeking 8-12% ownership ¹¹¹².

Manan Mehta has described the firm’s pricing philosophy: “This may sit below the Carta averages for pre-seed valuations, but it’s what lets us say yes now — as your friends-and-family check — rather than after you’ve de-risked the business. It creates psychological freedom to lean into possibility” ¹⁰. The firm invests in 15-18 new companies per year ¹².

The addition of Eric Ries as “Incorruptible” Partner signals the firm’s growing emphasis on mission-driven company building. Ries’s research suggests that companies grounded in deep missions are “6x more likely to survive” and consistently outperform peers in long-term value creation, citing examples like Cloudflare, Devoted Health, Costco, Patagonia, and GitLab ²³.

The firm’s stated mission extends beyond returns to a broader narrative about immigration and economic contribution. Mehta has said the firm aims to rewrite the narrative “that immigrants don’t take jobs — they create them” ⁸. The firm highlights statistics that immigrants comprise 15% of the U.S. population yet founded nearly half of current unicorns, and that 60% of leading private AI companies in the U.S. were founded by immigrants ¹⁴.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 39 verified portfolio investments (out of 100+ claimed), the analysis below reflects observable patterns. With roughly 39% of the total portfolio publicly confirmed with sufficient detail, these patterns are directional but may not be fully representative.

Stage distribution: Exclusively pre-seed and seed. The firm invests before incorporation in the majority of cases (60% per their own reporting ¹¹). Pre-seed valuations range from $1.5M-$7.5M post-money ¹⁰. This is a true “day zero” fund — earlier than nearly all institutional venture capital.

Sector breakdown (based on 40 verified investments): The firm claims to be sector-agnostic, and the portfolio is indeed broadly distributed. Based on verified investments: - Enterprise SaaS/AI: 12 companies (30%) — Luminai, TextQL, CatalyzeX, Bicycle, Formally, Cohesive AI, Destro AI, Civic IQ, Monetizely, Daxo Robotics, 21 Labs (acquired), Sote - Healthcare/Biotech: 6 companies (15%) — Pine Park Health, Faeth Therapeutics, Aavia, Atlas Wearable, Reprogram Biosciences, Plantible Foods - Space/Deep Tech: 4 companies (10%) — Apolink, Lynk, Gridraster, PolyGone Systems - Consumer/E-commerce: 5 companies (12.5%) — Lily AI, Arise (acquired), Beamm, The Landing, unClassic Foods - Climate/Energy: 2 companies (5%) — Cache Energy, Carbonara - Fintech: 3 companies (7.5%) — Allocate, Masa, Career Karma (acquired) - Food/Agriculture: 1 company (2.5%) — Pod Foods - Autonomous Vehicles: 2 companies (5%) — Gatik, Starsky Robotics - Other/Education: 4 companies (10%) — Inspirit Learning, Plutoshift, Scout Robotics, The Flex Co.

The portfolio leans more heavily toward enterprise/B2B (approximately 60%+ based on Tracxn data showing 45 enterprise/B2B companies out of 72 tracked) than consumer ¹⁵. Despite claiming sector agnosticism, there is a notable concentration in AI and enterprise applications.

Geographic patterns: All portfolio companies are U.S.-based. The firm requires founders to be in the United States ¹². Operations span Silicon Valley, New York, and Florida ¹².

Check size: $300K-$500K typical first check ¹¹¹². Average check size reported as $200K-$500K range ¹⁶.

Founder profile patterns: The defining characteristic is that all founders must be immigrants or children of immigrants. Beyond this, the firm looks for “founder superpowers” — founders who are aware of their strengths rather than trying to fix weaknesses ¹³. Mehta has emphasized they look for “distance traveled” rather than pedigree ¹¹. The firm has backed founders from 35 countries ⁸. The 2021 cohort included 5 teams with women founders and 5 BIPOC founders ¹⁷. Multiple portfolio founders have been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 ¹⁷¹⁸.

Co-investor patterns: Portfolio companies have raised follow-on from top-tier firms including First Round Capital, a16z, Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Canaan, Khosla Ventures, Social Capital, Foundation Capital, and Canvas Ventures ⁸. For every dollar Unshackled invests, portfolio founders have raised $30 more in follow-on capital ¹¹.

Notable gaps between stated and actual thesis: The firm’s claim of sector agnosticism is somewhat accurate but understates the heavy lean toward enterprise/B2B software and AI. Healthcare and deep tech are well-represented, but consumer and fintech are relatively underrepresented given the breadth of the stated thesis. The firm’s true differentiator is not sector-based at all — it is the immigration support infrastructure (visa sponsorship, in-house attorneys, 100% filing success rate) that creates a proprietary deal flow pipeline of founders who literally cannot access other institutional capital without an employer sponsor.

Exits: Three known acquisitions: Career Karma (September 2025), Arise, and 21 Labs ¹⁵. Faeth Therapeutics went public on Nasdaq through a reverse merger with Sensei Biotherapeutics alongside a $200M PIPE ¹⁹. The firm reported a 52x return on one investment in 2025, converted to liquidity ¹⁰.

Portfolio

Note: This table represents approximately 40 of 100+ claimed investments. Years marked with ~ are approximate, based on earliest public references or company founding dates. All investments are at pre-seed or seed stage. The firm reports investing in companies across 35 countries of origin for founders ⁸.

In Their Own Words

“We truly believe that the founders we’re backing will succeed anyway, with or without us, but we can speed up their journey.” — Nitin Pachisia, Founding Partner, Foundersuite interview ³

“We don’t care who is referring you. We actually under-weigh the value of the referral itself and over-weigh what we learn about the founders.” — Nitin Pachisia, Founding Partner, Foundersuite interview ³

“We are very much underwriters of people. And we constantly talk about this idea of we invest at founder-problem fit, not a problem-product fit.” — Manan Mehta, Founding Partner, The Full Ratchet podcast ¹¹

“We’re not investing in founders that need to be told what to think. We are investing in founders that already know how to think.” — Manan Mehta, Founding Partner, The Full Ratchet podcast ¹¹

“In 75% of the cases we’ve invested — three out of four companies in our portfolio — we were the first check, the only check.” — Manan Mehta, Founding Partner, The Full Ratchet podcast ¹¹

“This may sit below the Carta averages for pre-seed valuations, but it’s what lets us say yes now — as your friends-and-family check — rather than after you’ve de-risked the business. It creates psychological freedom to lean into possibility.” — Manan Mehta, Founding Partner, Unshackled Ventures 2025 year-end review ¹⁰

“The combination of being long on ambition and short on things to lose is exactly what spurs immigrant founders toward success.” — Manan Mehta, Founding Partner, Unconventional Genius podcast ²¹

“Innovation for the sake of innovation doesn’t create businesses — it creates interesting tech. We’re not investing in interesting tech, we’re investing in great founders building great businesses.” — Unshackled Ventures, Founder Institute interview ¹³

“If immigrant founders had the freedom to build from day zero, they would create a different kind of company and a different kind of economy. Eleven years in, that’s no longer just a belief; it’s actual proof.” — Unshackled Ventures, 2025 year-end review ¹⁰

“If you look at most industries, there is usually at least one company that chose a different path.” — Eric Ries, Incorruptible Partner, Unshackled Ventures Substack, November 2025 ²³

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials about working with Unshackled Ventures were found despite dedicated searching across social media, podcast transcripts, and press coverage.

Firm-sourced references (biased — from Unshackled’s own publications):

Purva Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Lily AI, has publicly described being on “6 visas in the last 5 years to live her American dream” — Unshackled was an early backer of Lily AI, providing the immigration support infrastructure that enabled her to found and scale the company ²².

Prateek Joshi (Plutoshift) is a documented case where Unshackled sponsored his visa. The firm’s immigration team made him O-1 visa eligible and subsequently filed and received approval for his EB-1 Extraordinary Ability petition in under six months ⁹.

Sources