India Leading Country in Immigrant-founded US Unicorns

By siliconindia   |   Friday, 29 July 2022, 17:17 IST
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India Leading Country in Immigrant-founded US Unicorns

Recent studies have observed that Indian-based founders top the list of immigrant founders of US start-up companies

According to a report published by the National Foundation of American Policy (NFAP), India, with 66 startup companies, tops the chart of immigrant founders of US unicorns. It is observed that more than half of America’s start-up companies valued at one billion USD or more, known as unicorns, have at least one immigrant founder. It is not just startup founders alone. India-born entrepreneurs are now running the most powerful tech giants in the US. Following India on the list were Israel, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and Iran.

The NFAP study found at least 10 immigrants with two or more unicorns in the US, of which four are from India. Mohit Aron founded Nutanix and Cohesity, Ajeet Singh founded Nutanix and Thoughtspot, Jyoti Bansal founded Appdynamics and Harness, and Ashutosh Grag founded Blooreach and Eightfold.ai. The research found that these unicorn companies, started by immigrant founders, have provided an average of 859 jobs per company.

Additionally, they are also causing a rise in the US economy. It is found that 1.2 trillion USD is the collective value of 319 immigrant-founded companies, which is more than the value of many companies listed in the major stock markets of many countries. Other than these immigrant founders, there are 133 companies identified with at least one immigrant in a leadership position such as CEO, CTO, or VP of engineering. The study highlighted that these positions are crucial for the growth of the organisation, with many entrepreneurs saying that founding and funding a business is easier than running the company successfully. 78 per cent of 582 unicorn companies have an immigrant founder or an immigrant playing a significant leadership role.

However, due to low quotas and the per-country limit resulting in a long wait for employment-based green cards, many individuals with H-1B status are prevented from having employment status that allows them to start a business. Research estimates that Indians could exceed a two million backlog for employment-based green cards by 2030. Furthermore, the annual limit of 85,000 for H-IB temporary visas makes it difficult for new businesses to hire new employees.