Majority of Startups Valued Over $1B Founded by Immigrants, Report Finds

Earlier this month, SSTI highlighted recent research from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) that detailed the critical role immigrants play in developing some of the most notable innovations in the U.S. While that study looked at particular inventions, new research from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) finds that immigrants also play a major role in helping to found and nurture innovative startups. In an analysis of startup companies valued at $1 billion dollars or more, 51 percent (44 out of 87) were started by immigrants.

Overall, more than 45 percent (20 out of 44) of the immigrants who started a company originally came to the United States as international students. In addition to helping found these high-growth companies, immigrants also played an important support role. In one of the first studies to analyze the role immigrants play on the management or product development teams leading these unicorns, the report notes that 62 of the 87 companies, or 71 percent, had at least one immigrant in a critical position, such as chief technology officer, CEO, or vice president of engineering. On average, the number of jobs created in an immigrant-founded company was about 760 employees per company – with the vast majority located in the United States.

As a companion to the study, which received funding from the Kauffman Foundation, NFAP also released a policy brief that examines the potential for a “startup visa.” Startup Visa Proposals and Job Creation provides an analysis of currently proposed startup visa legislation in Congress. Generally speaking, these visas would provide entrepreneurs with conditional green cards for starting successful businesses and eventual paths to permanent residency. Improving the legal structure that allows immigrant entrepreneurs to start a business, stay in the United States, and grow the company would improve national job creation efforts, according to the report.