On Immigration, Innovation and Entrepreneurship…
Red Herring reported on a recent study (available on the NVCA website) which shows how immigration has been one of the major driving forces behind tech innovation in the US. (Hat Tip: Shefaly)
The study revealed that over the past 15 years, 25 percent of U.S. public companies that were VC-backed were started by immigrants. Together these companies account for an impressive market cap exceeding $500 billion.
Note that legal immigrants account only for 8.7% of the population.Some of these companies include Google, Yahoo, eBay, Sun Microsystems, Intel and Solectron
Worryingly, the study noted that two-thirds of respondents in its survey said “U.S. immigration policy has made it increasingly difficult to start a business in America” and a “a nearly-equal percentage felt that the visa policies, particularly the limited number of H1-B visas allotted to companies “harm American competitiveness.””
The study underlines the immense entrepreneurial capacity (and risk-taking attitudes) prevalent amongst immigrants – something that would hardly surprise anyone who is an immigrant in any country (I count myself as one).
