American startups founded by immigrants are creating an average of 833 jobs per company and are collectively worth nearly $5 trillion, according to a new report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). Indian immigrants, the report says, have emerged as the largest contributor to this success story, founding or co-founding more billion-dollar startups in the United States than immigrants from any other country. “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,” said NFAP Executive Director Stuart Anderson, who authored the report.
“Immigrant entrepreneurs highlighted in the study typically came from modest means, including as children or international students, before achieving the American Dream. They often owe a great deal to the sacrifices their parents made to provide a better life for their children.”
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 number among all countries of origin. Israel ranked second with 54 unicorn founders, followed by the United Kingdom with 38 and Canada with 35.
“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 report stated.
It also revealed that the 455 immigrant-founded unicorns employ about 3.8 million people worldwide, averaging 833 jobs per company. Together, these firms have a combined valuation of nearly $5 trillion.
Some of the most valuable immigrant-founded companies include SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks and Stripe. “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),” the report highlighted.
Immigrants fueled rise of billion-dollar startups in US
The report also highlights how immigrant entrepreneurship has expanded over the years. In 2018, there were 91 unicorn companies in the U.S., and 50 of them (or 55%) had an immigrant founder. Just 8 years later, in 2026, those numbers increased to 775 U.S. unicorn companies (as of April 2026), and 455 (59%) have at least one immigrant founder, a 750% rise in the number of U.S. unicorn companies and an over 800% increase in the number with immigrant founders
NFAP has identified at least 15 immigrants who have founded two or more billion-dollar companies—Noubar Afeyan (born in 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 the 15 were born in India before immigrating to America. Noubar Afeyan has founded five companies that became valued at $1 billion, including Moderna, which went public, Indigo Ag, Generate Biomedicines, Tessera Therapeutics and Lila Sciences. Elon Musk has been a founder or cofounder of four companies valued at $1 billion or more—SpaceX, OpenAI, The Boring Company and Neuralink and is also the CEO of Tesla.
Key findings of the research- There are 183 U.S. billion-dollar companies with founders who attended a U.S. university as international students. Almost one-quarter (183 of 775, or 24%) of U.S. billion-dollar startup companies have a founder who first came to America as an international student. Several companies have multiple international students as founders. There are 233 international students who became founders or cofounders of current U.S. billion-dollar companies. International students can typically remain in the United States long-term only after obtaining H-1B status and/or an employment-based green card.
- U.S. billion-dollar startup companies with founders who entered as international students have created an average of 1,123 jobs per company. The total value of U.S. billion-dollar companies with international student founders is $3.5 trillion; over $4 trillion if one includes unicorns that have gone public since 2016.
- At U.S. universities, international students account for 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 engineering, civil engineering and mechanical engineering.
- SpaceX, with 25,700, has the most employees among billion-dollar companies with an immigrant founder, 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).
- Immigrant entrepreneurs in U.S. billion-dollar startups are diverse, hailing from 76 different countries. 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).
- NFAP research has identified 58 U.S. billion-dollar startup companies with native-born founders whose parents were immigrants (i.e., the children of immigrants). When combined with the companies with immigrant founders, it means approximately two-thirds (66%) of U.S. billion-dollar companies (unicorns) were founded or cofounded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.
- Many immigrant women are founders of U.S. billion-dollar companies. The singer Rihanna immigrated to the United States from Barbados and founded Savage X Fenty, a fashion and lingerie company valued at $1 billion. Sherry Wei, born in China, earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Purdue University and founded Aviatrix, a cloud network platform valued at $2 billion. Jen Rubio, an immigrant from the Philippines, is cofounder and CEO of Away, which produces luggage and travel accessories. Joanna Kochaniak, an immigrant from Poland, is a cofounder of Upside, which has 400 employees and a $1.5 billion valuation. Wei Deng, the founder and CEO of Clipboard Health, immigrated from China at age 9.10
- There is generally no reliable way under U.S. immigration law for foreign nationals to start a business and remain in the country after founding a company. Successful immigrant entrepreneurs in America are almost always refugees or family-sponsored and employer sponsored immigrants. A startup visa passed the House of Representatives in 2022, but Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) blocked its inclusion in the Chips and Science Act.
- A total of 243 of the 455 (53%) unicorn companies with an immigrant founder or cofounder are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, which includes Silicon Valley and the surrounding San Francisco area. Overall, 350 of the 775 (45%) unicorns (as of April 2026) are headquartered in the Bay Area. In sum, 69% of the Bay Area’s unicorn companies have an immigrant founder. “Clusters of people with specific skills really matter for innovation,” according to labor economist Mark Regets, an NFAP senior fellow. “This is a reason why high-skilled immigration really matters, because you need to allow people to move to clusters, and it is massively in the U.S. interest for it to happen on American soil.” New York has 83 immigrant-founded unicorn companies, followed by 30 for Boston, Cambridge and the surrounding area, Chicago has 11, Bellevue, Washington has 6 and Los Angeles has 5 (more if one counts nearby cities). Other cities with immigrant-founded billion-dollar companies include Miami (5) and locations such as Houston (3), Seattle (3), Boulder (3), Kirkland (2), Dallas (2) and Washington, D.C (2). With 268, California is the leading state for billion-dollar companies with an immigrant founder or cofounder, followed by New York (85), Massachusetts (31), Texas (16), Illinois (12), Washington (11), Florida (9), Colorado (4), New Jersey (4) and Virginia (4).
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