A recent report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) highlights that American startups founded by immigrants create an average of 833 jobs per company and collectively boast a valuation of nearly $5 trillion. Indian immigrants have emerged as the largest contributors, founding or co-founding more billion-dollar startups than immigrants from any other nation.
NFAP Executive Director Stuart Anderson, the report's author, noted, "The research indicates that more open immigration policies will produce more startup companies in America, including cutting-edge companies that transform industries and employ many Americans. On the other hand, immigration restrictions could threaten America's technological leadership and competitiveness." He added that immigrant entrepreneurs often come from modest backgrounds, arriving as children or international students before achieving the American Dream, and owe much to their parents' sacrifices.
Indian Founders Lead Immigrant Entrepreneurship in the US
According to the NFAP report, Indian immigrants have founded or co-founded 96 U.S. unicorns, the highest among all countries of origin. Israel ranks second with 54 unicorn founders, followed by the United Kingdom with 38 and Canada with 35. The report states, "India, with 96 companies, is the leading country of origin for the immigrant founders of U.S. billion-dollar companies. Immigrants from Israel founded the second-most billion-dollar companies with 60, followed by the United Kingdom (47), China (41), Canada (30), Russia (23), France (21), Germany (18), Ukraine (16), Australia (14), Pakistan (10) and Romania (10)."
The 455 immigrant-founded unicorns employ around 3.8 million people worldwide, averaging 833 jobs per company, with a combined valuation of nearly $5 trillion. Notable high-value firms include SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, and Stripe. The report highlights that "the U.S. billion-dollar companies with at least one immigrant founder with the highest valuations are SpaceX ($1.5 trillion), Anthropic ($965 billion), OpenAI ($852 billion), Databricks ($134 billion), Stripe ($106.7 billion), Ramp Financial ($32 billion), Safe Superintelligence ($32 billion) and Anysphere ($29.3 billion)."
Immigrants Fueled Rise of Billion-Dollar Startups in US
The report also underscores the expansion of immigrant entrepreneurship. In 2018, there were 91 unicorn companies in the U.S., with 50 (55%) having an immigrant founder. By April 2026, the number surged to 775 unicorns, with 455 (59%) having at least one immigrant founder—a 750% rise in total unicorns and an over 800% increase in those with immigrant founders.
NFAP identified at least 15 immigrants who have founded two or more billion-dollar companies, including Noubar Afeyan (Lebanon), Mohit Aron (India), Jyoti Bansal (India), Ashutosh Garg (India), Al Goldstein (Uzbekistan), Michael Gronager (Denmark), Arvind Jain (India), Ignacio Martinez (Spain), Elon Musk (South Africa), Sachin Nayyar (India), Christopher Ré (France), Ajeet Singh (India), Ion Stoica (Romania), Ilya Sutskever (Canada), and Vlad Tenev (Bulgaria). Six of these 15 were born in India. Noubar Afeyan has founded five billion-dollar companies, including Moderna, Indigo Ag, Generate Biomedicines, Tessera Therapeutics, and Lila Sciences. Elon Musk has founded or co-founded four billion-dollar companies—SpaceX, OpenAI, The Boring Company, and Neuralink—and serves as CEO of Tesla.
Key Findings of the Research
- International Student Founders: There are 183 U.S. billion-dollar companies with founders who attended a U.S. university as international students, accounting for 24% of all unicorns. These 233 founders created an average of 1,123 jobs per company, with a total valuation of $3.5 trillion ($4 trillion including post-2016 IPOs).
- Graduate Enrollment: International students make up 80% of full-time graduate students in computer and information sciences, 75% in electrical and computer engineering, 62% in mathematics and statistics, and a majority in industrial, civil, and mechanical engineering.
- Employment Leaders: SpaceX employs 25,700 people, the most among immigrant-founded unicorns, followed by REEF Technology (18,000), Stripe (10,000), Gopuff (9,400), Databricks (8,000), Brandtech Group (7,000), Deel (6,500), Cohesity (6,000), OpenAI (5,000), Notion Labs (4,800), GrubMarket (4,700), Motive (4,508), High Radius (4,457), Epic Games (4,000), and Fever Labs (3,954).
- Diverse Origins: Immigrant entrepreneurs hail from 76 countries. India leads with 96 companies, followed by Israel (60), UK (47), China (41), Canada (30), Russia (23), France (21), Germany (18), Ukraine (16), Australia (14), Pakistan (10), and Romania (10).
- Children of Immigrants: 58 unicorns have native-born founders whose parents were immigrants. Combined with immigrant-founded firms, about two-thirds (66%) of U.S. unicorns have founders who are immigrants or children of immigrants.
- Women Founders: Notable immigrant women founders include Rihanna (Barbados, Savage X Fenty), Sherry Wei (China, Aviatrix), Jen Rubio (Philippines, Away), Joanna Kochaniak (Poland, Upside), and Wei Deng (China, Clipboard Health).
- Immigration Challenges: There is no reliable U.S. immigration path for foreign nationals to start a business and stay after founding. A startup visa passed the House in 2022 but was blocked by Sen. Charles Grassley.
- Geographic Concentration: 243 of 455 (53%) immigrant-founded unicorns are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, which hosts 69% of its unicorns. New York has 83, Boston/Cambridge 30, Chicago 11, Bellevue 6, Los Angeles 5, Miami 5, and others. California leads states with 268, followed by New York (85), Massachusetts (31), Texas (16), Illinois (12), Washington (11), Florida (9), Colorado (4), New Jersey (4), and Virginia (4).
