Nearly half of US unicorns were founded by first-generation immigrants

FinanceYF5 · x · 2026-09-03

Research by Stanford professor Ilya Strebulaev shows nearly half of US unicorns were founded by first-generation immigrants, with founders from 65 countries each creating at least one unicorn. By nationality: 90 Indian founders, 52 Israeli, 42 Canadian. The data may need updating, but the conclusion stands — immigrants contribute to US innovation far beyond their population share.

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