LOS ANGELES, CA
With thousands of international startup founders — many backed by Y Combinator, a16z, and top-tier accelerators — pursuing O-1 visas to build their companies in the United States, S99 PR introduces a press program built specifically around the evidentiary needs of the founder community.
S99 PR, a Los Angeles-based public relations agency with a dedicated practice in visa press coverage, today announced the launch of a specialized O-1 visa press program for startup founders — a segment the agency identifies as one of the fastest growing and most underserved in the extraordinary ability immigration space.
The O-1A visa has become the visa of choice for international startup founders seeking to build companies in the United States. Its flexibility, unlimited renewals, and recognition of founder-specific achievements — including accelerator participation, venture funding, press coverage, and original contributions to a field — make it the dominant pathway for venture-backed entrepreneurs from countries around the world. Top accelerator programs including Y Combinator, Techstars, and others now routinely work with cohorts in which a significant portion of founders are O-1 applicants or candidates.
The press and media category remains one of the most powerful and one of the most frequently mishandled elements of an O-1 petition for founders. USCIS looks for evidence of media coverage in professional or major trade publications — coverage that demonstrates the applicant has been recognized by their field, not simply coverage that was self-generated or appeared in outlets lacking credibility. For founders, this means articles about their work, their company, their innovations, and their standing in the startup ecosystem — published by real editorial outlets with verifiable readership and clean formatting.
“Founders often have strong cases on paper — accelerator acceptance, venture backing, a product that is shipping,” said Jake Vince, brand strategist at S99 PR.
“What they frequently lack is documented media recognition. That gap in the press category is exactly what we are built to close. We build an editorial media profile that reflects what the founder has actually accomplished and positions it in front of the case officers and attorneys who need to see it.”
S99 PR’s founder-focused O-1 press program is built around the specific evidentiary criteria USCIS applies to startup and entrepreneurial applicants. Articles are developed to demonstrate field recognition, original contributions, and the significance of the founder’s work in context — not generic brand awareness content, but purposeful editorial coverage designed to support a petition’s press category with precision.
“The founders coming through Y Combinator and the top accelerators are building companies that are changing industries. The press they need for their O-1 petition should reflect that — credible, organic, and specific to what makes their work extraordinary.”
— J A K E V I N C E , S 9 9 P R
Each article placed through S99 PR’s visa press program meets a strict editorial standard: clear author attribution, visible publish date, no sponsored or contributor content tags, publication readership of 100,000 or more monthly visitors, and clean editorial formatting that presents as genuine third-party coverage. The agency works in close coordination with immigration attorneys, who present the resulting coverage as supporting evidence in the petition.
The timing dimension matters significantly for founder applicants. Press coverage assembled immediately before a filing date carries far less weight than a media profile built over several months. Founders are encouraged to begin the press development process early — ideally well before a petition is ready to file — so that the coverage can reflect a natural, organic pattern of public recognition rather than a rushed accumulation of articles.
“The founders who come to us early get the strongest outcomes,” Vince said. “We have enough time to build a media profile that looks exactly like what it should be: a founder whose work has been recognized, covered, and validated by the press independently. That is what USCIS is looking for. That is what we build.”
S99 PR does not guarantee visa approval and is not a law firm. Its role is to build the press and media category of an O-1 petition in the most credible and strategically effective form possible. The agency works with immigration attorneys throughout the process and does not provide legal advice.
For more information on S99 PR’s O-1 visa press program for startup founders, visit www.s99pr.com/visapress.
About S99 PR
S99 PR is a Los Angeles-based credibility and authority-building agency with a dedicated practice in press and media coverage for O-1 and EB-1A extraordinary ability visa applicants, including startup founders, technology professionals, researchers, and public figures. The agency works with immigration attorneys and their clients to build organic, editorially credible media profiles that support the press category of extraordinary ability petitions. S99 PR is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
www.s99pr.com | www.s99pr.com/visapress
Media Contact
S99 PR
Los Angeles, CA