Anand Mahindra lauds Indian entrepreneurs’ lead in founding US unicorns: ‘The new phase will be in India’ | Today’s news
Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra recently reacted to a new study released by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) which found that Indians are part of a large portion of the entrepreneurs behind billion-dollar startups in the United States.
The 71-year-old praised the performance of Indian-Americans and said that the startup boom has started in India as well and that it is ready to surprise the world.
Topping the list of US unicorn startups, a total of 96 Indian immigrants have founded or co-founded privately held US startup companies valued at $1 billion or more, more than any other country in the world. Second on the list is Israel, followed by the United Kingdom.
With Indians emerging as some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the US, Anand Mahindra wrote in a post on X: “It’s time to use the old American phrase, ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet…!’ Despite the challenges, Indian Americans remain as entrepreneurial as ever.
Reiterating his faith in the entrepreneurial spirit of Indians, he added, “But the new stage will be right here in India, where the startup boom has just begun. And it will surprise the world…”
How Immigrants Drive America’s Unicorn Economy?
A study by Stuart Anderson revealed that immigrants founded or co-founded nearly 59% of US private firms start-up companies, i.e. 455 out of a total of 775 privately owned US unicorn startups. The findings of this research shed light on the importance of immigrants in top companies. According to the report, nearly 80% of US unicorn companies have an immigrant founder or an immigrant in a key leadership role, such as CEO or VP of engineering.
The study found that approximately 66% of US unicorn companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.
What would be the state of US wealth if immigrant founders were not allowed into the country?
The report suggested that America would have $5.0 trillion less in wealth if immigrant founders were not allowed in the country. This research is based on information on more than 700 privately held startups valued at more than $1 billion as of April 2026. It is important to note that America’s billion-dollar start-ups with immigrant founders created an average of 833 jobs per company.
Claiming that immigrants have fueled the rise of America’s billion-dollar startups, an excerpt from the study said, “Given that each co-founder contributes to the success of a startup company, it seems likely that only a few billion-dollar companies with at least one immigrant founder would exist or be founded in the United States if foreign-born founders were not allowed to come to America, meaning that several hundred billion dollars as a few hundred companies that have half US dollars could come to America, jobs and up to $5.0 trillion less wealth.
This report highlights that the number of US unicorns founded by immigrants has grown significantly from 50 in 2018 to 455 in 2026. Additionally, 24% of US unicorns have a founder who first came to America as an international student.
