From London to a Delaware C-Corp to a $2.1M seed round. In 9 weeks.
Mira Patel and Theo Nakamura, both UK-based AI researchers, knew their potential US enterprise customers would not transact with a UK Ltd. They needed a Delaware C-Corp, US banking, US tax IDs, and a clean cap table before their seed round closed. Five investor conversations were already underway.
Where they were when they came to us.
Halftide builds inference orchestration software for AI applications. Their target customers were US-based fintechs and large SaaS companies with policies against contracting non-US entities for sensitive workloads. The founders held UK passports, lived in London, and had no US presence. They had verbal interest from a Tier 2 US VC and three angels, totaling about $1.8M in commitments, contingent on a Delaware C-Corp with EIN and a US bank account.
What stood in the way.
EIN applications without an SSN require paper Form SS-4 submitted by fax to the IRS. The typical timeline is 1-3 weeks, sometimes longer.
Most US banks reject foreign-founder applications. Mercury and a few partner banks accept them with formation documents.
Two co-founders splitting equity. Both needed 83(b) elections within 30 days of receiving restricted stock.
Foreign-owned LLCs require Form 5472 + 1120 annually. If they had formed an LLC first and then converted, this would have created complications.
What we did.
File.Business formed the Delaware C-Corp directly, skipping the LLC stage. Wyoming was discussed but ruled out because investors required Delaware. Paper Form SS-4 was filed the day after incorporation. Mercury opened the business banking account within 11 days of EIN issuance. Founders signed restricted stock purchase agreements and filed 83(b) elections within the 30-day window. Cap table was set up in our cap table tool.
The numbers.
| Delaware C-Corp formed | 2 business days from filing |
| EIN issued | 9 days (faster than the typical 1-3 weeks for foreign founders) |
| Mercury account active | 11 days after EIN |
| Seed round closed | $2.1M, 60 days after C-Corp formation |
| Equity structure | Co-founders 75% combined, option pool 15%, seed investors 10% |
| Compliance | Form 5472 not required (no longer LLC); 1120 due as standard C-Corp |
"Two of us founded a Delaware C-Corp from London. We did not have SSNs. File.Business had our EIN in nine days by fax. The bank account followed a week later. We closed seed two months after incorporation."
Mira Patel · Co-founder, Halftide AI
Plan and add-ons: Growth tier, $49/month, plus $349 in setup add-ons (EIN expedite, 83(b) preparation, cap table setup).
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