Indian immigrants lead other nations in founding or co-founding US companies valued at one billion dollars or more. A recent study shows they have started 96 such firms, ahead of Israel with 60, the United Kingdom with 47, China with 41, Canada with 30, Russia with 23, France with 21, Germany with 18, Ukraine with 16 and Australia with 14. Immigrants overall account for 455 of the 775 privately held US unicorns examined, or 59 percent. The National Foundation for American Policy report highlights that nearly two thirds of these companies involve immigrant founders or their children. Many Indian founders arrived first as international students, later using work visas before launching firms. Examples include leaders at Cohesity, Glean, Eightfold AI, H2O.ai and Innovaccer. Fifteen immigrant repeat founders were identified, six of them Indian born. The firms employ an average of 833 people each, mostly in the United States, and together hold an estimated five trillion dollars in value. The study notes that open immigration policies support more startups while restrictions may affect US technological standing.
