Immigrant Founders: Intimate Fireside Chat w/ Poshmark Founder Manish Chandra + Investor Pitch Feedback
This is a small intimate event for select group of founders.
Apply to Pitch and get feedback from Investors
Hear directly from the visionary founder who transformed the way the world shops for fashion, Manish Chandra.
What does it take to grow an idea from a garage into a $3 billion company?
Manish Chandra co-founded Poshmark in 2011 and scaled it into a social commerce phenomenon with 80 million users and over 200 million listings. From securing a $600M valuation by 2017 to a landmark IPO in 2021, Manish's journey is one of the most remarkable in Silicon Valley history.
💡 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:
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm: Registration: Networking w/ Food and Drinks!
5:00 pm - 5:30 pm: Startup Lightning Pitches - Apply to Pitch
5:30 pm - 6:15 pm: Fireside Chat: Manish Chandra
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm: Networking w/ Food and Drinks!
Investor Bio
Yangchen is a founder turned investor and the General Partner at RoundTable Ventures, an early-stage firm investing in AI, DeepTech and Healthcare across pre seed to series A globally.
A business builder at her core, she founded Valeri at 19 and scaled it into a global textile manufacturing business, and has worked across traditional enterprises like JSW Steel on growth and strategy.
She invests early with a deep interest in healthcare startups and works closely with founders being the most operational investor in a cap table.
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) nonprofit pre-accelerator with a mission of creating a supportive community to build a better tomorrow. With a focus on founder success vs startup success, we provide education, networks, and resources to unlock founder potential while championing diversity, inclusion, and authenticity. Founded by Natalie Pan, an engineer, community builder and executive coach. Subscribe to https://luma.com/fbl Apply for the next cohort here https://fundingbreakthroughlab.org.
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 🛂