August 31: US Unicorn Founders by Country of Origin

44% of US Unicorn Founders are First-Generation Immigrants

Source: Ilya Strebulaev, Stanford Graduate School of Business 
Published: October 2021

US Unicorn Founders by Country of Origin

The term “Unicorn” refers to a privately held startup company with a value of over $1 billion. 

There are approximately 500 Unicorns in the US. 1,078 founders started those businesses, with an average of 2.2 co-founders per Unicorn.

Of the 1,078 founders, 44% (474 people) were born outside of the US.

Unicorn Founders' Country of Origin: US
Number per Country: 604
Percentage per Country: 56%

Unicorn Founders' Country of Origin: India
Number per Country: 90
Percentage per Country: 8%

Unicorn Founders' Country of Origin: Israel
Number per Country: 52
Percentage per Country: 5%

Unicorn Founders' Country of Origin: Canada
Number per Country: 42
Percentage per Country: 4%

Unicorn Founders' Country of Origin: UK
Number per Country: 31
Percentage per Country: 3%

Unicorn Founders' Country of Origin: China
Number per Country: 27
Percentage per Country: 3%

Unicorn Founders' Country of Origin: Germany
Number per Country: 18
Percentage per Country: 2%

Unicorn Founders' Country of Origin: France
Number per Country: 17
Percentage per Country: 2%

Unicorn Founders' Country of Origin: Russia
Number per Country: 14
Percentage per Country: 1%

Unicorn Founders' Country of Origin: Other
Number per Country: 183
Percentage per Country: 17%

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