An interesting new report has revealed that founders who grew up in India have played a significant role in creating 205 unicorns—startups valued at over $1 billion—outside of India. These companies collectively hold an impressive value of around $560 billion, according to the Indian Diaspora Index, developed by Prosus and Dealroom.
Most of these unicorns, a staggering 91% or 187, are located in the United States. Rather than solely looking at how many people of Indian descent live abroad or the money they send back home, this index focuses on entrepreneurs who were raised in India and have established successful businesses in other countries.
It’s important to clarify that the $560 billion figure doesn’t reflect the personal wealth of these founders. Instead, it represents the total value attributed to their companies, based on their founding shares. The calculation method considers the company’s value and divides it among its founders. If a company is valued at $10 billion with five founders, each founder would be credited with $2 billion. If two of those founders grew up in India, their combined contribution would account for $4 billion towards the Indian founder value. However, this does not mean those founders necessarily own that amount personally, as their actual ownership can change due to various factors like fundraising and share sales.
Diving a bit deeper into the numbers, the index identifies that 70 unicorns have been founded entirely by teams of Indian origin, contributing about $243 billion to the overall figure. Some well-known companies that fall under this category include Zscaler, Rubrik, and Nutanix, founded by individuals like Jay Chaudhry and Bipul Sinha.
The remaining 135 unicorns are formed by mixed teams, including founders of Indian heritage, and they hold about $317 billion in attributed value. Notable names from this group include Palo Alto Networks and Bloom Energy.
Overall, the report sheds light on the trends of Indian entrepreneurs. The concentration of these successful businesses is quite significant in the U.S., which appears to be a pivotal ecosystem for Indian-origin founders. In total, there are 323 unicorns globally with founders born in India; of these, 102 were established in India, while 200 were launched or moved to the U.S.
As Saurav Jain, Principal Investor at Prosus India, expressed, the Indian entrepreneurial spirit is thriving in many markets worldwide, particularly in the U.S. He noted that the talent, drive, and market conditions have evolved, allowing Indian founders to build successful companies without necessarily relocating abroad, although many still do.
This index not only highlights the success of Indian-origin founders but also underscores the growing importance of their contributions to the global economy.
