Immigrant entrepreneurs and professionals contribute significantly to job creation and innovation in the United States. This analysis shows the striking propensity of immigrants to start and grow successful American companies, particularly in the technology field. The study’s findings reflect the benefits of an open policy toward legal immigration. However, it also reveals that current restrictions on skilled immigrants are likely to result in less job creation and innovation for America.

This first of its kind study utilized the Thomson Financial database to examine the nativity of the founders of all U.S. venture-backed publicly traded companies. Separately, the authors surveyed over 340 privately held venture-backed companies to discern their views on U.S. immigration policy and obtain demographic data on their founders. The result is a portrait of the positive impact immigrants have in starting and working for America’s leading edge companies.

American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness, commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), is part of NVCA’s MAGNET USA initiative.

The report consists of three main sections. The first section provides data on publicly traded and privately held venturebacked companies. The second section provides the results of a recent NVCA survey on immigrant entrepreneurs and H-1B professionals. The third part presents U.S. government data highlighting the importance of foreign-born scientists and engineers in the United States. The study also showcases the extraordinary contributions of five immigrant founders of venture-backed companies from China, India, Israel, Lebanon, and Taiwan. (Executive Summary)

Download American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness

PDF format, 1.1MB, 40 Pages.

ABOUT THE STUDY

This study, commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association, was prepared by Stuart Anderson, executive director, National Foundation for American Policy, a non-profit, non-partisan public policy research organization, and Michaela Platzer, president, Content First, a full-service public policy research services firm. The purpose of the study is to provide an objective overview of the impact of immigrant entrepreneurs and professionals on the U.S. economy.

This study is part of NVCA’s Maximizing America’s Growth for the Nation’s Entrepreneurs and Technologists (MAGNET USA) innovative leadership initiative aimed at strengthening America’s competitive position in an increasingly global economy.

Visit The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Website

The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) is the premier trade association that represents the U.S. venture capital industry. It is a member-based organization, consisting of venture capital firms that manage pools of risk equity capital dedicated to be invested in high growth, entrepreneurial companies. NVCA's mission is to foster greater understanding of the importance of venture capital to the U.S. economy, and support entrepreneurial activity and innovation.

The NVCA represents the public policy interests of the venture capital community, strives to maintain high professional standards, provides reliable industry data, sponsors professional development, and facilitates interaction among its members.

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