Ellis Technologies, which is on a mission to help international students in the US set up a bank account and other services, has raised $5.6m in seed funding.
The round was led by Kindred Ventures. With participation also from Castle Island Ventures, V1.VC, 20VC, Will Smith’s Dreamers VC, and Nextview Ventures.
The funding round also included investments from Balaji Srinivasan, Sahil Bloom, Harry Hurst (Pipe), Joshua Browder (DoNotPay), Matteo Franceschetti (EightSleep), Soups Ranjan (Sardine), Tom Blomfield (Monzo), Alexander Leishman (River Financial), Andrew Benson (River Financial), Cyril Berdugo (Landis), Tom Petit (Landis), Jeremy Cai (Italic), Keith Ryu (Fountain), and others.
Ellis said that immigrants and international students described an “agonising experience” when relocating to the US. “From the moment students clear US customs, we scramble to get a prepaid phone plan, set up a bank account without a social security number, and apply for a social security card – all with little to no guidance,” the company said.
Ellis went on to say that students then spend years dealing with arcane visa processes, learning the nuances of tax treatment of non-residents, navigating poorly designed websites, and maintaining their travel and immigration documents in several disjointed systems – all leading to long hours of stress and, in the worst scenarios, risk of deportation.
To tackle these problems, Ellis asks a simple set of questions, collects basic documents (e.g. Passport, I-20 Form, or DS-2019 Form) and bestows students with a US phone plan, an international checking account, and a debit card – months before their relocation to the US. Ellis said it then uses the same information and documents to create a cohesive immigration profile to automate all of the paperwork and processes required to be an international student. Applying for a social security card, filing non-resident tax returns (that find every possible tax treaty for their nationality), building a credit profile with the bureaus, renewing a visa, and petitioning for work authorization can be done in a few clicks – with Ellis processing all of the paperwork and payments automatically.
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