Indian-born founders lead the charge in US unicorns

Even as concerns rise globally over the tightening of immigration rules under US President-elect Donald Trump, a recent study reveals that nearly half of the founders of US startup unicorns were born outside the country, with India leading the way.

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

Indian-born founders account for nearly a fifth of all non-US-born unicorn founders, far exceeding any other nation.

The findings come from a study released by Stanford Graduate School of Business' Venture Capital Initiative, which analyzed data from 500 unicorns between 1997 and 2019.

The dataset includes 1,078 founders, 44 per cent of whom were identified as non-US-born based on their birth details. These non-US-born founders hail from 65 countries worldwide.

India heads the list of non-US-born unicorn founders, with 90 from the country, followed by Israel with 52, Canada with 42, the UK with 31, and China with 27 founders.