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💡 What’s the Unspoken Reality of Immigrant Founders

​Most people only see the outcome:
the company name, the traction, the headline, the visa that “worked out.”

​What they don’t see is everything underneath.

​The uncertainty.
The tradeoffs.
The distance from home.
The pressure to make it work—not just for yourself, but for everyone who believed in you.

​For immigrant founders, the journey isn’t just about building a startup.
It’s about building stability, identity, and belonging at the same time.

​This is the space where ambition meets constraint.
Where resilience is learned, not branded.
Where progress often happens quietly, without applause.

​This night is for founders living that reality—to share what they’re building, speak honestly about the struggle, exchange real knowledge, and connect with others who understand it firsthand.

​💭 What This Gathering Is Really About

​This isn’t a polished demo day.
It’s not a hype room.

​It’s a fireside-style conversation and rapid pitch social for immigrant founders who are deeply committed—founders who are sacrificing comfort, certainty, and sometimes geography to build something meaningful.

​We’ll talk about:

• ​What it actually takes to keep going when the path is unclear

• ​Lessons learned the hard way—across visas, fundraising, hiring, and identity

• ​What’s working right now, not what sounds good online

• ​How community changes the journey when you stop doing it alone

​Because for immigrant founders, progress is rarely linear—but it is shared.

​🙋 Who This Is For

• ​Immigrant founders building startups, products, or communities

• ​Builders navigating uncertainty, pressure, or isolation while still showing up

• ​Founders who want honest conversation over polished narratives

• ​People who value knowledge-sharing, real feedback, and mutual support

• ​Anyone who wants to connect with others who understand the cost—and the courage—of building far from home

​Agenda:

• ​​​5:00 pm - 5:30 pm: Registration: Networking w/ Food and Drinks!​

• ​5:30 pm - 6:00 pm: Startup Lightning Pitches - Apply to Pitch

• ​6:00 pm - 6:30 pm: Fireside Chat: Anastasia Trofimova

• ​6:30 pm - 7:00 pm Startup Lightning Pitches - Apply to Pitch

• ​7:00 pm - 8:30 pm: Networking w/ Food and Drinks!​​​

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​Investor Bios

​TBD

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​Drink Sponsor:

​OoMee is a marine plant beverage powered by Seabiotics™, our proprietary blend of marine plant fibers that helps naturally curb cravings.

​Hosts:

​Funding Breakthrough Lab is a 501(c)(3) women-led nonprofit pre-accelerator with a mission of creating a supportive community to build a better tomorrow. We empower founders with education, networks, and resources to unlock their potential while championing diversity, inclusion, and authenticity. Founded by Natalie Pan, an engineer, community builder and executive coach. Apply for the next cohort starting March 21st 2026 here https://fundingbreakthroughlab.org.

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​Are you an internationally backed startup coming to the US to raise funds? ​​OpenSphere maximizes your visa-approval chances with our personalized AI-powered assistance and legal guidance. Immigrants can book a free consultation 🛂

​Space Sponsored by Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP:

​Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP (CFM) is a leading investment management law firm known for providing top-tier, innovative, and collaborative legal solutions for complex financial services matters. CFM services start-up investment managers, multibillion-dollar funds, and everything in between.

​ The firm’s corporate and intellectual property (IP) practice groups also advise early-stage startups to later staged companies valued in the billions and the business innovators and investors who run and fund them, including: global comprehensive and strategic IP counsel and legal services, delivering tailored solutions and robust protections for developments and inventions, brands, digital assets, AI technologies, designs, know-how, and more; and advising companies and investors during all stages of the corporate lifecycle across emerging industries, from formation to exit, such as fundraising rounds, mergers and acquisitions, securities compliance, joint ventures, corporate clean-up and due diligence, employment matters, corporate tax matters, etc.​
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