Immigrants power over half of U.S. unicorns- now they have their own summit 

Immigrants in the U.S. are behind 55% of unicorn startups- valued at $1 billion USD or more- as well as 32% of aggregate innovation, 65% of top AI companies, and a quarter of patents. Yet, despite giants like Google, SpaceX and Apple being founded by immigrants or their children, the community’s contributions are rarely celebrated at dedicated industry events. 

Since 2021, Forbes had warned that the country’s highly politicized immigration system and convoluted bureaucracies upheld roadblocks that prevented foreign-born founders from unlocking their companies’ potential. 

Subsequently, “the best and brightest” are moving, but not to the U.S., according to the New York Times. The U.S. has been the assumed destination for people who want to tap into the most opportunity, but the pattern is shifting. 

As tensions continue to rise around U.S. immigration and visas, engaging in conversation that details immigrant-led advancements in the country’s technological sector is more critical than ever. 

One Way Ventures, an early-stage venture capital (VC) fund operating in the U.S. focuses on backing exceptional immigrant founders. Now, the fund is hosting a unique startup-VC summit, through which it will spotlight the transformative impact of immigrant startups. 

“The immigration journey is one of the greatest predictors of an entrepreneur’s success, and the U.S. is lucky to be home for so many foreign-born thinkers and builders,” noted Eugene Malobrodsky, Managing Partner at One Way Ventures. 

“We want to strengthen that community space for discussion and foster connections across the ecosystem,” he added. 

Research has shown that collaboration is key. When immigrant and U.S.-born entrepreneurs team up, a UC Berkeley study found that their startups perform better than those founded by either group alone. These ventures employ 20% more people than U.S.-native-only ones, raise larger funding rounds, and are more likely to be acquired or go public. 

UC Berkeley also found that the root of such success lies in expanded access to talent pools, international funding sources, and entryways to international markets. 

“By exploiting these broader networks, they get higher quality labor, higher quality sources of capital, and more product market access,” noted researcher Timothy McQuade. 

Immigrants from India, the UK and Canada lead the current entrepreneurial boom in the U.S., although Latin Americans have also started new businesses at twice the rate of the general population.

The American dream of business ownership and innovation, Fortune stresses, is about building strong local economies where opportunity thrives- not only about individual success. The One Way Summit was envisioned to bridge these pillars of the U.S. startup ecosystem. 

Confirmed speakers include Cal Henderson, Co-Founder and CTO at Slack and Rajat Suri, Co-Founder of Lyft and founder and CEO of Presto. The one-day event will welcome over 450 investors, founders, operators and stakeholders from around the world, who will convene in fireside chats celebrating the power and resilience of immigrant entrepreneurs. 

Expert panels will also be organized with experts, covering pressing contemporary issues like immigration status, visas, hiring, fundraising and scaling. 

“We still collectively underestimate just how critical of a role [immigrants] play. So much so, that we’re making it harder for people to choose the U.S. as their home and keep the American Dream alive,” said Semyon Dukach, Founding Partner at One Way Ventures. 

“We’re launching the One Way Summit against those headwinds, and to be a louder voice at a time when people are increasingly scared to speak out,” he concluded.

Featured image: Chalo Gallardo via Unsplash