Yeah that's really it. Still an improvement on the $1 million required for an EB-5 (although that gives you a green card).

It feels like there could be some workarounds here. They explicitly say the money can't be from a loan, so that idea is out.

But I've read of other techies getting an E2 for an investment just in the mid 5 figures range, so it mightn't need to go into the 6 figure range after all. Especially with a profitable software business where the profit margins are extremely high and the running costs are extremely low, I think they would lower the threshold.