For Indian founders whose customers are in the US
Set up your US company the right way. From India.
Trellis puts the whole structure in place: the Delaware company your investors want, the Indian LLP that lets you legally own it, and the Indian subsidiary your team sits in. Every filing, on both sides, in one WhatsApp or Slack thread.
$2,500 + GST One price for all three entities, government fees included.
Do you need a US company?
Your customers are in Austin. Your team is in Bangalore. Your company should be in Delaware.
US customers buy from US companies.
A Delaware entity ends the procurement questions: "do you have a US presence," "can we pay in dollars," "is your contract under US law." Yes, yes, and yes.
US investors invest in Delaware.
SAFEs, priced rounds, YC paperwork, angel syndicates: all of it assumes a Delaware C-corp. US funds generally won't wire money into an Indian entity.
The good tools assume a US company.
Stripe, Mercury, Brex, Deel, US payroll, US credit. Easier with a US parent, and in several cases only possible with one.
Your exit has more buyers.
Acquirers and later-stage funds can buy a Delaware company as it is; an Indian one usually needs restructuring first. The universe of people who can eventually buy your business is a lot larger if it's US-incorporated.
Ownership
You can get a Delaware company in 48 hours. You just can't legally own it.
Atlas, Clerky and Firstbase will give you a Delaware C-corp by Friday. As an Indian resident, you can't hold 10% or more, or any board control, in a US company that owns an Indian subsidiary. The way around it is to hold your shares through an Indian entity.
Usually from a VC's lawyer during diligence, or from a bank refusing to process the money. Fixing it then means moving your shares into an Indian entity at fair value: a fresh valuation, investor consent, and a tax bill, at exactly the moment the company is worth something.
Set it up right on day one and you never think about it again.
The structure
The three entities, and what each one does.
The LLP holds your shares in the US company.
It's the Indian entity the rules require. Light to run, and it's what lets you own a foreign company that has an Indian subsidiary.
The US company owns the IP, signs the customers, raises the money.
This is the company on your cap table, the one investors wire into, the one that shows up on Stripe.
The Indian subsidiary employs the team.
It invoices the US parent for its work on a cost-plus basis, exports those services zero-rated under GST, and pays a small, predictable Indian tax on the markup. Your CA sets the rate. Nothing about it is exotic; it's the standard set-up for Indian companies selling abroad, SaaS or otherwise.
Everything in between is filed.
The money from the LLP into the US company is an ODI. The money from the US company into the subsidiary is FDI. Each has its own paperwork with the RBI. We do both.
What we set up
All three, plus the plumbing between them.
Indian LLP
- Digital signatures (DSC) for every partner
- Name reservation (RUN-LLP)
- Incorporation filing (FiLLiP)
- LLP agreement, drafted, stamped, filed
- PAN registration
- Bank account with an AD bank that will actually process an overseas investment
US company
- Delaware C-corp
- EIN from the IRS
- Registered agent, first year
- Founder stock issued
- Bylaws, board consents, stock ledger
- Mercury (or equivalent) account
Indian Pvt Ltd
- Name reservation and incorporation filing (SPICe+)
- MOA and AOA
- PAN and TAN registrations
- Bank account
- Share structure ready to receive FDI from the parent
The filings between the entities
- CA net-worth certificate for the LLP
- Form FC with your bank
- UIN from the RBI
- The remittance itself
- US share certificate within six months
- FC-GPR and FIRMS entity master for the subsidiary
This is the paperwork that makes the three companies one legal structure, and it's the part that goes wrong when it's split across three vendors.
How it works
You do three things. We do the rest.
Book a 20-minute call.
We check where each founder lives for tax and FEMA purposes (it changes the structure), whether you already have a US entity, and which of the three pieces you need.
Send us documents, once.
PAN, Aadhaar, an address proof under two months old and a photo, per founder. A utility bill and an NOC for the registered office. That's it.
Sign twice.
A five-minute video KYC for your digital signature, and the LLP agreement. Everything else is signed by us or by the certifying professional.
Everything else happens in one WhatsApp or Slack thread. Our agent asks for what it needs, when it needs it, and tells you what happened with it. Every filing is reviewed and signed by a licensed Chartered Accountant or Company Secretary before it goes to the MCA or your bank, because the law requires it and because you should want it. Ask for a human at any point and you'll get one.
What we promise
The parts we control move fast.
The MCA and the RBI take the time they take. What we control is everything else, and we'll be honest about the rest.
You always know where your file is.
Which stage, what it's waiting on, who it's waiting on. No "any update?" emails, ever.
Answers in minutes.
The agent answers the routine questions immediately. Anything that needs judgement goes to a licensed professional, and you hear back from them, not from a queue.
Same speed in September and March.
Traditional firms park your incorporation behind tax season. We don't have a tax season.
Each step moves the moment the last one clears.
No file sits on someone's desk waiting for a Monday. The next filing goes the same day the previous one comes back.
Why founders pick us
Most tools solve half the problem. Most firms solve it slowly.
| What you need | Atlas / ClerkyAtlas | Traditional CA firmCA firm | Trellis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware C-corp | outsourced | ||
| Indian LLP holding structure | |||
| Indian subsidiary | |||
| ODI and FDI filings between them | some | ||
| Tells you if your structure is wrong | maybe | ||
| Licensed CA/CS signs every filing | |||
| Live status you can check any time | |||
| Same speed in tax season | |||
| Collaborate across Slack & WhatsApp | |||
| A human when you want one | eventually |
Dashed circles mean "sometimes, depending on the firm and the month."
We built software to do the assembling, cross-checking and chasing that firms do with people. Then we kept the people for the part that matters: a licensed professional reviews and signs every filing before it goes anywhere.
Pricing
One price, with no line items.
About ₹2.2 lakh at today's rate. Paid in rupees.
- All three entities: Indian LLP, Delaware C-corp, Indian Pvt Ltd
- Every government fee and stamp duty, on both sides
- Digital signatures for every founder
- Delaware registered agent, first year
- All ODI and FDI filings with the RBI, including the CA net-worth certificate
- Bank account introductions on both sides
- A clean, complete file handed over at the end
One number, because the alternative is a rate card with forty rows where "FiLLiP filing fee" and "professional charges for FiLLiP" are somehow different lines. You shouldn't need to know what FiLLiP is to know what this costs.
Not included: the capital you put into the LLP and remit to the US company (that's your capital), and anything after setup. See below.
Only need one or two of the three pieces, or already have an Atlas company that needs fixing? Book the call. We'll quote it straight.
After setup
We build the trellis. Then we get out of the way.
Once you're set up, each entity has its own annual filings: the RBI's annual performance report by 31 December, LLP Form 8 and Form 11, Delaware franchise tax and Form 5472, the usual ROC filings for the subsidiary. We don't do these. We introduce you to partners who do, and we hand them a complete file so they can start on day one instead of reconstructing what happened.
Our filings are reviewed and certified by Vasan & Sampath, Chartered Accountants, who can also take you on for the annual work if you'd like continuity.
A note from the founder
Why this exists
I've set up this exact structure by hand for founders I coach. It took three vendors, a checklist I left forty-nine comments on, and a lot of "any update?" messages to people who were, to be fair, busy with tax season. At one point the incorporation vendor and the bank were each waiting for the other.
None of it was hard the way building a product is hard. It was hard the way a badly designed form is hard: every step is known, the order is known, the documents are known. It just needs someone to hold the whole sequence in their head and push each piece the moment the last one clears. That's a job for software, with a licensed professional signing at the end.
So I started Trellis: an agentic company incorporation firm, built to set up the company you need with as little hassle as possible. I co-founded SpotDraft and spent seven years building it into a company that raised over ₹700 crore before we exited in 2025. I teach entrepreneurship at Plaksha and I'm a Venture Partner at EF, where I work with early-stage founders. I've watched too many good ones lose a month, and occasionally a round, to a structure problem that should have taken a week of paperwork.
Rohith SalimVenture Partner, Entrepreneurs First · Visiting faculty, Plaksha University · Co-founder, SpotDraft (exited 2025)
Questions founders ask
The FAQ
Why can't I just hold the US company personally?
If you're an Indian resident and the US company has (or will have) an Indian subsidiary, the Overseas Investment Rules 2022 don't let you hold a controlling stake in it, and "control" starts at 10% of voting rights. Shares you got through an ESOP are the one exception. Holding through an Indian entity is the route that works for founders. If you're certain you'll never have an Indian subsidiary, you can hold personally, but the investment still has to be reported to the RBI through your bank (Form FC, then a UIN, then an annual report every December). Paying for the incorporation on a credit card doesn't change that.
Why an LLP and not my existing Pvt Ltd?
An Indian company can make the overseas investment too. We use an LLP because it's lighter to run: no board meetings, no audit until it's large, cheaper annual filings. If you already have a Pvt Ltd you'd rather use as the holding entity, that works, and we'll tell you on the call whether it's a good idea.
I already set up on Stripe Atlas. Can you fix it?
Usually, yes. If the founder shares were never reported, we regularise the overseas investment with your bank and get the UIN issued. If you're about to hire in India, we move the shares into an LLP before the company has a valuation that makes the transfer expensive. Book the call and bring your cap table.
How much money does the LLP need?
Most founders put in ₹10,000. The rule behind that: the LLP can invest up to four times its net worth in the US company, and for a new LLP, net worth is just the capital the partners have put in. So the LLP needs at least a quarter of whatever you're going to send to the US. Capitalise it with a small amount and send a small amount; the real money comes from investors directly into the US company.
One of us lives in the US. Does that change things?
Yes, and in your favour. The rules apply to people resident in India. A co-founder who's a non-resident can hold shares in the US company directly, with no LLP and no RBI filing, and keeps them if they move back later. The resident co-founders hold through the LLP. Same cap table, two routes in. We check every founder's residency on the first call because it decides the structure.
Can investors put money in before all three entities exist?
Into the US company, yes, once it exists and has a bank account. The LLP should hold the founders' shares before outside money comes in. Those shares can be issued to the LLP on the day the US company is formed, with payment deferred, so the sequence is LLP, then US company with the founders' shares in it, then investors. The LLP's remittance and the RBI filings follow at the bank's pace. The Indian subsidiary can come whenever you need it.
What if investor money comes in before the LLP holds the founders' shares?
It's the expensive version of the problem above. If the US company takes outside money before the LLP holds the founders' shares, either the founders are holding personally, which runs into the 10% rule the moment there's an Indian subsidiary, or the LLP has to buy in afterwards. And the LLP buying in later has to happen at fair value, which the investors' round has just set. So the founders' stake goes from near-free to priced: a valuation report, investor consent, and a tax bill on the transfer. If you're already in this position it's fixable, and cheaper the sooner it's done. Book the call and bring the cap table.
What about ESOPs for the Indian team?
The US parent grants them directly. Indian employees can receive shares in a foreign company under an employee stock plan, and it's specifically carved out of the overseas investment restrictions. You don't need the subsidiary for this.
What does the Indian subsidiary do?
It employs everyone in India, properly, with offer letters and PF. It invoices the US parent for the work on a cost-plus basis, exports those services zero-rated under GST, and pays Indian tax on the markup. Without it, a US company with staff in India can be treated as having a taxable presence here, with tax assessed after the fact on whatever share of your profits an officer decides came from India. The subsidiary turns that open-ended exposure into a small, predictable one.
Where is the US company "headquartered"?
Legally, in Delaware. Practically, wherever the founders are, and for most of our clients that's India. That's fine at the early stage. Once turnover crosses ₹50 crore, India can look at where the company is effectively managed and, if every decision is made in India, treat the US company as an Indian tax resident. By then you'll have US hires, a US board member or both, and your CA will be managing it. We'll flag it on the call; nobody should be surprised by it in year three.
Which bank will actually process the overseas investment?
Not every branch of every bank is comfortable with an LLP investing in a US company that will own an Indian subsidiary. We work with the ones that are, and we introduce you. Mercury is on the US side; that part is easy.
Do I need to be in India for any of this?
No. The video KYC for your digital signature is done from anywhere. The LLP agreement is signed physically but can be couriered. At least one designated partner of the LLP has to be resident in India, which for most founding teams is already true.
Build in India. Sell to the world. Start with the structure.
Twenty minutes on a call and you'll know exactly which entities you need, in what order, and what it'll cost. Even if you don't use us.
Book a structure call →