In a world frequently characterized by uncertainty and misconception, Chris Lennon is a beacon of clarity. The President of Empowered Startups seamlessly cuts through many of the oft-confused issues surrounding business immigration in a lengthy conversation on IMI’s popular podcast, The Mobility Standard.
In a wide-ranging interview with host Christian Nesheim, Lennon fielded questions on the various programs Empowered Startups offers in Canada, the USA, and Portugal. He also commented on how these programs address many of the common criticisms voiced by citizens about their own country’s immigration policies.
“The programs we deliver deal with that by ensuring there’s immediate and fairly broad-based benefits being delivered to the country where the entrepreneur or entrepreneurial team is coming, primarily, in our case, because there’s immediate investment into the university research network and companies are being created,” explained Lennon. “Longer term, hopefully jobs are being created, and because of that, everything’s being done in a transparent way. These people are incorporating new entities, which they’re shareholders of, and they’re incorporating new corporate bank accounts. They’re not hiding their identity, it’s obvious who they are, so we hope that also helps get at some of the criticisms.”
Lennon provided detailed background on how Empowered Startups entered the world of business immigration as well as his professional journey from lawyer to his current role as President of Empowered. His description offers plenty of insight into how the company has evolved into one that creates opportunities for entrepreneurs, universities and researchers through its programs in North America and Europe such as the HQA Visa Program it has designed in Portugal.
“We do something very specific that has resonated with the Portuguese government and has been explicitly endorsed by the Portuguese government,” stated Lennon. “We’re both the matchmaker for our clients, but we’re also kind of the executive recruiter for the Portuguese government, finding the successful businesspeople that they’d like to see come to Portugal to stimulate the research network in universities and build new ventures.”
The interview in its entirety can be found on IMI Daily or on Spotify, Apple and most other popular podcast platforms. Investment Migration Insider is an industry-leading hub for the latest news, trends, and opinions on immigration through investment.
