About Stead
We are building the marketplace and technology that powers the next era of human mobility — connecting people and capital to the world's most compelling jurisdictions.
Jurisdictions indexed
Countries covered
People choosing deliberately
$100B+
Investment migration market
Growing 12% annually
7,000+
Special economic zones
Globally, competing for business
120+
Startup societies
New jurisdiction models launching globally
53
Digital nomad visa programs
Launched since 2020
Why we exist
The forces that make Stead not just possible, but necessary.
01
Remote work untethered income from location. Digital banking untethered wealth from borders. International education untethered opportunity from birthplace. For the first time, where you live is a genuine choice for a growing segment of the global population — and that segment is growing fast.
Location is increasingly a decision, not a default. Stead is the platform that makes that decision informed.
02
40 million digital nomads. Hundreds of thousands of investors acquiring second residency annually. Millions of professionals restructuring where they live for tax efficiency, quality of life, or business access. The demand for mobility infrastructure is enormous — and it's still early.
The market exists. The platform connecting people to it does not — yet.
03
Thousands of governments, SEZs, and programs are actively seeking qualified residents, investors, and businesses. Most of them have no modern digital presence, no AI-powered workflows, and no shared identity infrastructure. Stead builds the platform that connects supply and demand — a marketplace, a technology layer, and an identity system built for global mobility at scale.
We are Stripe for sovereign infrastructure. The rails, not the bank.
The name
A homestead is somewhere you put down roots deliberately — land you chose, built on, and made your own. The name Stead captures that same intentionality applied to global mobility: helping people find the place that genuinely fits their life, not just the one they were assigned by birth.
The suffix -stead appears across history wherever people built intentional communities — farmsteads, hamlets, trading posts. It implies permanence, purpose, and ownership. That's what we're building: the infrastructure for people to find and establish their place in the world, on their own terms.
The domain of global mobility — citizenship programs, free zones, nomad visas, charter cities — is one of the most significant and underserved markets in the world. Stead is the modern platform it has been waiting for.
Finding your place used to mean accepting where you were born. Increasingly, it means choosing where you belong.
The market
Estonia's e-Residency pioneers digital jurisdiction access.
Caribbean citizenship programs generate $1B+ annually for the first time.
COVID permanently decouples income from location for 300M+ workers.
The global mobility market crosses $100B in annual transaction value.
The first unified marketplace and infrastructure platform for the global mobility industry.
The roadmap
Stead is building the marketplace and technology infrastructure for the next era of human mobility. We connect individuals, businesses, and investors to the world's most compelling jurisdictions — and we give those jurisdictions the tools to compete for residents and capital in the 21st century.
LIVE NOW
A searchable, filterable directory of every compelling jurisdiction on earth. SEZs, CBI programs, charter cities, network states, digital nomad visas — all in one place with AI matching to connect people to the right program.
IN DEVELOPMENT
The technology layer that powers jurisdiction applications end-to-end. Document AI, form automation, eligibility engines, and government portal integration. What takes weeks becomes hours.
PLANNED
Self-sovereign digital identity deployed across every partner jurisdiction. Apply to any program with one verified identity. The passport of the borderless era.
THE ENDGAME
When new charter cities, SEZs, and jurisdiction programs launch, they run on Stead. We provide the residency system, the identity layer, the application infrastructure, and the marketing engine. We become the operating system for modern jurisdiction programs.
The best places to live, work, and build will increasingly be the ones that designed themselves to attract the best people.
— Stead founding thesis
In ten years, choosing where you live and work will be as deliberate as choosing where you work. Stead is building the infrastructure for that world — the marketplace, the identity system, and the technology that makes global mobility simple, transparent, and accessible.
The team
Stead is an early-stage technology company built by people who believe global mobility should be as straightforward as any other major life decision. We are operators, not academics. Builders, not consultants.
We operate in public — sharing what we learn, what we build, and where we're going. If this vision resonates with you, we want to hear from you.
The best jurisdictions, programs, and opportunities should be findable by anyone — not just those with expensive advisors or the right connections. Stead makes the market transparent.
We serve individuals seeking opportunity, governments seeking qualified residents, and businesses seeking better operating environments. We build the rails — we don't pick the destination.
Visa programs, citizenship requirements, free zone costs — all of it should be clear, accurate, and accessible. Hidden information serves intermediaries. We serve users.
Every document re-submitted, every form manually filled, every week of unnecessary waiting — these are infrastructure problems. Stead builds the technology that makes global mobility as smooth as booking a flight.
The intellectual foundation
The Network State
2022
An influential framework for digital-first community building and new jurisdiction models
ReportGlobal Wealth Migration Review
Henley & Partners, Annual
The definitive data on HNW mobility trends globally
ReportInvestment Migration Yearbook
IMCM, Annual
Industry data on CBI and residency by investment programs
BookThe New Geography of Jobs
Enrico Moretti, 2012
How talent clusters and location shapes economic outcomes
DataHenley Passport Index
Annual
The definitive passport power ranking and mobility inequality data
ReportDigital Nomad Statistics
MBO Partners, Annual
The largest longitudinal study of location-independent workers
Whether you're moving, building, governing, or investing — Stead is your infrastructure.
Find your ideal jurisdiction and apply with Stead.
Explore jurisdictions →Partner with Stead to market your jurisdiction and modernize your application workflow.
Become a partner →Join the team building the infrastructure for global mobility.
Get in touch →Weekly intelligence on jurisdictions, mobility trends, and new program launches.