Kerry and Lugar Push Startup Visa Act

Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar have introduced The Startup Visa Act in Washington today.

In a nutshell this bill will create a new type of visa that will allow foreign entrepreneurs to set up their company in the US providing they secure a certain amount of investment and produce a certain amount of revenue or job positions.

In a letter meant to circulate to other senators, they highlight the example of a Canadian company who couldn’t set roots in the US and eventually moved to Montreal:

Vanilla (http://www.vanillaforums.com) is an example of a type of company this visa would apply to. Vanilla has two founders, both Canadian. They spent the summer in Boulder, Colorado as part of the TechStars accelerator program getting advice, help, and mentorship from over 50 U.S. based entrepreneurs and investors. Numerous investors were interested in funding Vanilla and helping them to grow their company from Boulder; however neither founder was able to give investors comfort that they could get an appropriate visa to stay and work in the US. Since then, the founders have relocated to Montreal, raised $500,000, and started their company in Canada. Today, they are adding three people to their team, all based in Montreal. If successful, they will add many more people to the team over the next few years.

You can read a letter from the Senators describing the act here.