Indian entrepreneurs have emerged as the largest group of immigrant founders behind America’s billion-dollar startups, according to new research that highlights the outsized role foreign-born talent continues to play in the US innovation economy. A study by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) found that Indian-born founders were involved in the creation of 96 US unicorns, privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more.
The finding comes at a time when immigration rules in the United States are becoming increasingly restrictive, prompting debate over whether the country can continue attracting the global talent that has fueled its startup ecosystem.
India Tops Global Ranking Of Unicorn Founders
The NFAP examined founders across all 775 US unicorn companies as of April 2026 and found India comfortably ahead of every other country. Israel ranked second with 60 unicorn founders, followed by the United Kingdom (47), China (41), Canada (30), Russia (23), France (21), Germany (18), Ukraine (16) and Australia (14). Pakistan and Romania each accounted for 10 unicorn companies.
The study shows that entrepreneurs from 76 different countries have helped establish billion-dollar startups in the United States, underscoring the global nature of the country’s innovation landscape.
India’s performance stands out even more when viewed against the size of its diaspora. Among roughly five million Indian immigrants living in the US, about one in every 50,000 has founded a unicorn company.
Indian-Origin Billionaires Behind America’s Startup Success
Several Indian-born entrepreneurs have built some of the most valuable businesses in the United States.
Leading the list is Jay Chaudhry, founder and CEO of cybersecurity company Zscaler, whose net worth stood at $13.1 billion according to Forbes 2025 estimates. Born in Himachal Pradesh, Chaudhry went on to establish one of the world’s leading cybersecurity firms.
Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and founder of Khosla Ventures, follows with a fortune of $9.2 billion. Other prominent names include Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of IndiGo and former chairman of US Airways Group, with a net worth of $6.6 billion; Romesh Wadhwani, founder of Symphony Technology Group, worth $5 billion; and Aneel Bhusri, co-founder of enterprise software giant Workday, with wealth estimated at $3.3 billion.
The report also identified a select group of immigrant entrepreneurs who have created multiple unicorns. Of the 15 immigrants who founded two or more billion-dollar companies, six were born in India: Mohit Aron, Jyoti Bansal, Ashutosh Garg, Arvind Jain, Sachin Nayyar and Ajeet Singh.
Immigrants Drive Majority Of US Unicorn Ecosystem
The study found that immigrants founded or co-founded 455 of America’s 775 unicorn companies, accounting for 59 per cent of the total. The share has risen from 55 per cent reported in NFAP studies published in 2018 and 2022.
When founders who are children of immigrants are included, the figure climbs to 66 per cent. Furthermore, nearly four out of every five US unicorns have either an immigrant founder or an immigrant serving in a senior leadership position.
The growth over the last eight years has been dramatic. In 2018, the US had just 91 unicorn companies, 50 of which had immigrant founders. By April 2026, the number of unicorns had surged to 775, while immigrant-founded unicorns increased to 455.
A $5 Trillion Economic Engine
The economic impact of immigrant entrepreneurship is immense. According to NFAP, immigrant-founded unicorns collectively carry a valuation of approximately $5 trillion. When companies that later went public are added, the figure exceeds $5.8 trillion.
Among the most valuable companies founded by immigrants are SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI, Databricks, Stripe, Ramp Financial, Safe Superintelligence and Anysphere.
The report argues that immigrant founders have become central to America’s economic success, suggesting that the country would likely have far fewer billion-dollar companies, significantly fewer jobs and trillions of dollars less in wealth creation without their contributions.
International Students Emerging As Startup Builders
A notable finding of the research is the role of international students in fueling the startup pipeline. Nearly one-quarter of all US unicorn companies, 183 out of 775, have at least one founder who first entered the country on a student visa. Altogether, 233 former international students went on to establish or co-found billion-dollar companies.
These firms employ an average of 1,123 workers and collectively hold valuations of $3.5 trillion. Including those that have since gone public pushes the figure beyond $4 trillion.
The study notes that international students are particularly concentrated in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, which continue to serve as a major source of entrepreneurial talent for the US economy.
