One Way Summit Offers Hope for Latino and Immigrant Founders Amidst Visa Hurdles

Amidst increasing challenges with H-1B visas, the One Way Summit is emerging as a crucial platform for Latino and immigrant founders in the United States. Scheduled for October 28-29 in San Francisco, the event, hosted by Boston and San Francisco-based seed fund One Way Ventures, aims to foster a supportive environment for entrepreneurs who are navigating complex immigration policies.

The summit boasts an impressive lineup of speakers, including Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, Duolingo co-founder Severin Hacker, Slack co-founder Cal Henderson, OpenAI's global vice president Anna Makanju, and Rappi and Yuno co-founder Juan Pablo Ortega. Organizers anticipate over 1,000 attendees, doubling last year's turnout, which saw a sold-out event with participants from across the U.S. and internationally.

The timing of the summit, just a week before the U.S. midterm elections, underscores the current political climate. While organizers state the timing is coincidental, Eugene Malobrodsky, managing partner at One Way Ventures, acknowledged that the prevailing political atmosphere towards immigrants was a key motivator for the event. The summit serves as a message to founders that the U.S. remains a viable place to build businesses, despite the obstacles.

One Way Ventures, founded in 2017, champions immigrant founders, having backed entrepreneurs from over 30 countries and managing more than $130 million in its third fund. The event takes place against a backdrop of legal challenges and policy shifts affecting skilled immigrants, including a contentious $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions that was temporarily overturned but is now back in effect pending government appeal. Data also shows a significant drop in H-1B registrations for fiscal year 2027, partly attributed to a new lottery system favoring higher-paid applicants.

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the current political climate towards immigrants is part of the reason why the event was started: a way to tell the founders, in person, that the United States is still worth building.