Andee Gardiner noticed that many of the companies she worked with at her accelerator had the same strategy for attracting interest from U.S. investors: Change the location of their company on LinkedIn. “We’ve had 400 applicants and I can’t tell you how many of them say San Francisco on their LinkedIn (profile) and of course it took a phone call to learn that they’re not here,” said Gardiner, who is a co-founder of San Francisco-based Founders Embassy, an accelerator for international and immigrant founders. This type of startup catfishing is a symptom of a bigger challenge for international founders, Gardiner said: How do you raise money from top tier venture capital firms if you’re company is in another country? That’s where Founders Embassy comes in. The accelerator bills itself a two week crash course in all things Silicon Valley for international or immigrant founders.
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