Published on 24.04.2012
Immigrants are increasingly important in driving growth and innovation in America, as evidenced by the role played by foreign-born founders and key personnel in the nation’s breakthrough companies. Immigrants have started nearly half of America’s 50 top venture-funded companies and are key members of management or product development teams in almost 75 percent of our country’s leading cutting-edge companies. The research finds that among the top venture-backed companies, immigrant founders have created an average of approximately 150 jobs per company in the United States.
The research involved conducting interviews and gathering information on the top 50 venture-funded companies in the United States, which were ranked in 2011 by the research firm VentureSource based on factors that included company growth, (successful) track record of CEOs, founders and investors, and capital raised. The companies, all privately-held and with the potential to become publicly traded on the stock market in the years ahead, are today each valued at less than $1 billion and have received venture capital (equity) financing within the past three years, an important indicator of the promise seen by investors.
The research finds that 46 percent, or 23 out of 50, of the country’s top venture-funded companies had at least one immigrant founder. This illustrates the increasing importance and contributions of immigrants to the U.S. economy. A 2006 study conducted with the National Venture Capital Association identified an immigrant founder in 1 in 4, or 25 percent, of publicly traded venture-backed companies created between 1990 and 2005.
Interviews pointed to the uniqueness of America’s entrepreneurial culture, with many believing it remains the country’s greatest economic strength. Dr. Stefan Kraemer, who founded EndoGastric Solutions, said he came to the United States specifically to start a company. “In Germany, people would have told me, ‘What are you doing, you’re a surgeon, why do you want to do anything else, like start a company?’ said Kraemer. “To me, America is about having a dream and being able o realize it.”
The most common country of origin for an immigrant founder of a top 50 venture-backed company was India, followed by Israel, Canada, Iran and New Zealand. Other founders and co-founders were born in Italy, South Africa, Greece, Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Switzerland and France.
Through the companies they started the immigrant founders and co-founders have created an average of about 150 jobs in the United States.
The full report written by the National Foundation For American Policy can be found here:
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