Straight after CES, I spent an immersion week in San Francisco with Brasil IT+. In a single day I listened to a series of startup pitches and joined a discussion on immigration, startups and immigrant founders in healthcare and biotech.
The founder’s visa is part of the plan
The immigration talk was led by Adriana Soto Ospina, Founder and CEO of Maternal+ and VisaHub, and moderated by Andrea Stephany Diaz, Co-founder and CEO of OncoSwab. Both have lived the journey firsthand.
They covered how a startup can become the foundation for visas like the O-1, EB-1 or EB-2 NIW, and why it matters to build presence in the US ecosystem early. One message stood out clearly: for founders, especially in regulated sectors like healthcare, immigration strategy and company strategy go hand in hand.
Being an immigrant is not a weakness. It is often a competitive advantage.
Where founders, innovation and capital meet
There is a real energy in San Francisco between immigrant founders, innovation and investors. It connects directly with what Brasil IT+ is working toward: bringing Brazilian technology companies to global markets.
The day continued with the pitch event organized by Robert Janssen with Angel Launch, the Silicon Valley Investing Summit, spanning AI, tech, healthtech, bio and medtech. It closed with a Cain Brothers reception during J.P. Morgan Healthcare Week, with conversations alongside investors and healthcare professionals.
If you are planning a US entry
The founders who do this well treat the US move as one plan: the legal path, the company structure, the network and the market all reinforce each other. Start building presence before you need it. Show up in the ecosystem, get to know the investors and operators in your sector, and let the company’s progress support the visa path rather than the other way around.
