Emma Olorunsheyi and Ayodeji Adesola know the challenges that come with starting a new company as well as starting a life in a new country. Longtime friends from Nigeria who have scaled and exited businesses together in the past, the duo saw throughout their careers a pressing need to bring innovation to immigration.

Moving to the United States and working for names such as Amazon, Dell, Microsoft and Ford, Olorunsheyi and Adesola said they learned the challenges businesses face when managing the statuses and retention of their employees from other countries. 

As guidelines change and deadlines cycle for green card applicants and visa holders, employers must stay on top of requirements to avoid penalties and prevent team members from going into limbo over their ability to stay and work in the U.S.

International talent with support from consultants and education institutions also faces various questions when determining the best course of action for moving to and staying in the United States. Advisers have limited capacity, and each client has a unique background and goals, making each case and application route personalized and time consuming.

This all formed the basis for the new tech startup Olorunsheyi and Adesola created: Immigify. The Omaha-based company recently announced it has raised just over $1 million in venture capital in early-stage funding. 

Immigify offers a digital platform and management dashboard for helping consultants and businesses track and navigate clients and employees through the U.S. immigration system. It also offers guidance and support networks for individuals and students going through the process. 

The startup uses built-in artificial intelligence trained on the patterns of successful immigration cases. Users are able to do things such as identify visa and green card eligibility, follow step-by-step guidance on application criteria, track documents and deadlines and maintain compliance. 

Immigify’s co-founders include CEO Olorunsheyi, CTO Adesola and COO Diana Melendez — the paralegal and immigration consultant who helped Olorunsheyi go through his own green card to citizenship journey. 

“My parents are also immigrants, and I grew up in Southern California — there’s a huge immigration population,” Melendez said. “So, when someone calls you up and says, ‘I have an idea for simplifying the process on a broader scale,’ it makes you want to be a part of it.”

Although she had no previous entrepreneurial experience, Olorunsheyi said Melendez’s knowledge and expertise gave him the successful results he wanted to replicate for others.  

“I am one of the very few people who have the best immigration outcomes,” Olorunsheyi said. “I got my green card from start to finish in five months. That usually takes people years. And I became a U.S. citizen in exactly five years. That usually takes people longer than that.

“And that was because she handled the process.” 

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 3.6 million nonimmigrants resided in the country during the 2024 fiscal year. About 90% of these individuals were admitted as temporary workers or students. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 19.1% of the U.S. civilian labor force in 2025 was made up of foreign-born workers. 

“These folks are already here,” Olorunsheyi said. “They’re already in our workforce. They already have jobs. They have families. How do we streamline their experience for them, whether through their businesses or directly to them?”

Through their efforts researching, networking and generating early revenue, the Immigify co-founders announced a recent $1.015 million pre-seed investment round. They said this was more than double their original goal of $500,000. 

The round was led by the venture capital firm M25, which is based in Chicago. Other noted local investors include Invest Nebraska, Nelnet, NMotion and angel investor Kevin Pope. 

Finding a home in Nebraska

Olorunsheyi said he and his team committed to building Immigify in 2024. Immigify found initial footing in Oklahoma, and leadership expressed interest in joining a startup accelerator program that had a presence in the area through gener8tor.

Gener8tor is a venture capital firm that gives both funding and mentorship to high-growth companies, and the Immigify team said they had the chance to pursue its Oklahoma-based offering. However, Adesola said they were interested in collaborating with a gener8tor representative in Nebraska: Scott Henderson. 

Henderson is the managing principal of NMotion powered by gener8tor, the Nebraska-based accelerator that invests capital, time and coaching to a select group of early-stage ventures. Adesola said he had previously connected with Henderson over a different startup attempt he had done prior to Immigify.

Through further conversations and interviews, he said he and the others became convinced of Henderson’s messaging and advice.

Immigify was one of the six startups accepted into the NMotion Accelerator Spring 2025 cohort. The startup would also take part in the Techstars Workforce Accelerator Program, putting its team in front of additional mentors, industry experts and investors.

“Global talent is definitely a big market, and I think most Americans don’t understand how complicated and confusing immigration is,” Henderson said. Impressed by the Immigify team, their understanding of the problem and their progress during and after NMotion, Henderson said the startup earned his fund’s follow-on investment. 

“It’s not a large investment we make, compared to other investors, but it’s a signal that we believe in this,” he said.

The Immigify co-founders expressed their deep appreciation for the NMotion program and the connections it made for them in Nebraska. They added that each participant in their latest funding round came from connections they made through the NMotion network, such as during the recent Gr8er Plains Summit in May. 

Immigify is especially grateful for the support from the Greater Omaha Chamber. The Immigify co-founders said the chamber showed great interest and kindness toward them, showing them around the city and connecting them with resources such as Omaha 100 and the Scott Data Center. 

“We’ll help support any startup that knocks on the door and needs support from us,” said Makayla Leiting, senior manager of industry development and innovation at the Greater Omaha Chamber. “But we actively are trying to seek out and recruit high-tech startups that are complementary of the industries that we already do great at, that we already have significant anchor companies in.”

Such door-opening interactions convinced the founding team to move Immigify to Omaha last year. Beyond being based in the Scott Data Center, leadership said they have also taken advantage of other opportunities available to Nebraska entrepreneurs, such as the state’s prototype grant. 

“I have sat with more CEOs, shook hands and had conversations with more CEOs in Omaha than I’ve (had) all my life put together,” Olorunsheyi said.

Moving forward

In the current political and social landscape under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and government program restrictions, global talent is facing barriers and mixed messages around pursuing ambitions in the U.S. This can be seen with recent discussions over policy changes with green cards. 

The Immigify co-founders themselves noted how the current atmosphere around immigration has impacted their investment pitches, with potential investors facing heightened concerns about the success of the startup with every new government announcement and sudden regulation adjustment. 

Still, local and regional investors and community leaders have placed bets on Immigify.

With their infusion of funding, Immigify leadership said they plan to “start off strong” by increasing marketing efforts, growing users on their online community network, tapping into local talent and expanding both the team and offerings. According to the company’s website, Immigify has helped achieve more than 400 visa approvals. 

Adesola said learning about the big-name Nebraska startup stories of Hudl, Workshop and Buildertrend convinced him that Immigify could similarly scale in the state. 

“It can be isolating if you didn’t grow up here in the United States, and just saying you want to start something, you can feel overwhelmed and alone,” Adesola said. “But seeing these great stories gives us that encouragement, and I say, ‘OK, let’s go do it.’”

“And, yeah, we’re doing it.”