Boundless: Improving the Immigration Process
Online platform helps users better navigate the U.S. immigration system
Immigrating to the U.S. is a notoriously cumbersome and expensive process. Some individuals end up paying thousands of dollars in steep lawyer fees for professional guidance. Others try to manage their applications themselves and miss pertinent paperwork and information. On average, it takes three years to receive a green card.
Alumni Ventures portfolio company Boundless Immigration is improving the naturalization process by offering applicants access to affordable, online, and attorney-endorsed products within family-based immigration. With over one million monthly visitors and a growing social media following, the company is well-positioned to become an essential player in the critical and ever-changing immigration sector.
The TurboTax for Immigration
Boundless provides services for the lifecycle of family-based immigration, including marriage-based green cards, naturalization, removal of conditions, parent green cards, child green cards, and travel visas, provided through automated software with minimal human involvement. Some of the many benefits of the company’s platform include:
- Cost savings of 50% or more compared to hiring traditional immigration lawyers to assist with the process
- 24/7 customer service giving access to legal review and consultations
- Simplified government forms and extensive quality checks to ensure the highest accuracy before filing
Boundless has also combined its services with nearest competitor RapidVisa to improve the immigration process further. This partnership helps Boundless leverage a more comprehensive array of products, access a more diverse and consolidated customer base, and improve talent acquisition.
Founder Inspiration and Company Momentum
After his own family spent approximately 5x their monthly rent in attorney fees to support their immigration process, Boundless CEO and Co-Founder Xiao Wang was inspired to help other families better navigate the immigration system. Since launching in 2017, Boundless has shown tremendous growth and positive momentum. Some key milestones and successes include:
Established Industry Leader: Boundless established itself as a thought leader in the immigration space by publishing informative guides to the immigration process and using search engine optimization to build credibility. Now, with more than one million visitors per month, Boundless is the most visited website in the immigration space outside of the U.S. Government.
Growing Business: Boundless has helped many immigrant families through a high-stake and stressful process. Having built that trust, Xiao and his team plan to bolster customer relationships with added immigration and visa services, plus potential opportunities in credit, mortgage, auto, and lending.
Steady Traction: Despite political and COVID headwinds, Boundless grew revenue 476% from 2018 to 2020 and estimates that it can generate 80% gross margins on its services on an ongoing basis.
How We Are Involved
Boundless recently raised a $25 million Series B round led by Foundry Group. The investor syndicate also included AME Cloud Ventures, which is led by Yahoo Co-Founder Jerry Yang. Other participating investors include Emerson Collective, Trilogy Equity Partners, Industry Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, and PSL Ventures.
Alumni Ventures’ participation was co-led by Green D Ventures (for the Dartmouth community) and The Yard Ventures (for the Harvard community). Green D Managing Partner Laura Rippy leveraged her network in Seattle, specifically with PSL, to help secure Alumni Venture’s involvement. Additionally, Boundless CEO Xiao Wang earned his MBA from Harvard in 2014, providing a natural connection with The Yard.
Sibling funds Congress Avenue Ventures (for the UTexas community) and Westwood Ventures (for the UCLA community) also invested in the round. Part of Alumni Ventures’ allocation was raised via Syndication.