Indians lead immigrants in creating unicorns in US: Report

New Delhi, July 27

Indians lead immigrants in the US who founded more than half of America's startups valued at $1 billion or higher (unicorns), and four out of 10 immigrants who have founded multiple billion-dollar enterprises are from India, a new report has revealed.

A report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) said that Indians founded 66 companies with a valuation of over $1 billion.

Four of them -- Mohit Aron (Nutanix and Cohesity), Ashutosh Garg (Bloomreach and Eightfold.ai), Ajeet Singh (Nutanix and ThoughtSpot) and Jyoti Bansal (AppDynamics and Harness) -- are among those who founded multiple billion-dollar enterprises in the US.

"Immigrant entrepreneurs in US billion-dollar startups come from diverse backgrounds, hailing from 57 countries. India, with 66 companies, is the leading country of origin for the immigrant founders of US billion-dollar companies," the report said late on Tuesday.

Immigrants from Israel founded the second-most billion-dollar companies with 54, followed by the UK (27), Canada (22) and China (21).

"Immigrants have started more than half (319 of 582, or 55 per cent) of America's startup companies valued at $1 billion or more, according to the report.

Moreover, nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of US billion-dollar companies (unicorns) were founded or cofounded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.

"The research shows the importance of immigrants in cutting-edge companies and the US economy at a time when US immigration policies have pushed talent to other countries for talent," said Stuart Anderson, the author of the study and NFAP's executive director.

"The story of immigrant entrepreneurs and billiondollar companies is not only about impressive numbers but about immigrants coming to this country, working hard and achieving the American Dream," he added.

The collective value of the over 300 immigrant-founded US companies is $1.2 trillion, which is more than the value of all the companies listed on the main stock markets of many countries, including Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Portugal, Ireland, Russia and Mexico.

In addition to the companies with immigrant founders, at least 51 of the 582 US billion-dollar startup companies have founders who were born in the United States to immigrant parents.

There are 143 US billion-dollar companies with a founder who attended a US university as an international student.

"There are 174 international students who became founders or cofounders of US billion-dollar companies. International students typically can only remain in the United States long-term after gaining H-1B status and (or) an employment-based green card," the report noted.