Stripe, SpaceX And Instacart Are Top Immigrant-Founded U.S. Unicorns

Leadership Strategy Stripe, SpaceX And Instacart Are Top Immigrant-Founded U. S. Unicorns Stuart Anderson Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

I write about globalization, business, technology and immigration. New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Aug 29, 2022, 12:09am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center .

. . [+] in Florida on May 30, 2020.

(Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Immigrants have started many of America’s most valuable privately-held companies. More than half (55%) of U. S.

billion-dollar startups have at least one immigrant founder, according to a report from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). Privately-held companies valued at $1 billion or more are known as unicorns. The companies typically have received venture capital.

When Patrick and John Collison, born in Ireland, came to America as international students, they likely did not expect to start a company that became as successful as Stripe. “Millions of companies of all sizes . .

. use Stripe’s software and APIs to accept payments, send payouts, and manage their businesses online,” according to the company’s website . Stripe, where Patrick is CEO and John is president, has grown significantly.

Stripe had 380 employees in 2016 but more than 7,000 in 2022. The company’s value has increased from $5 billion in 2016 to $95 billion in 2022. (Valuations are as of August 2022, per CB Insights.

) SpaceX, founded by immigrant Elon Musk in 2002, has also grown. The number of employees at SpaceX has tripled from 4,000 in 2016 to 12,000 in 2022. The company’s valuation has risen from $12 billion in 2016 to $127 billion in 2022, making it the most valuable unicorn company in America (and the most valuable immigrant-founded unicorn).

Musk was born in South Africa, moved to Canada in his late teens, came to the U. S. as an international student and later gained the ability to work in America long-term by obtaining an H-1B visa.

He became a U. S. citizen in 2002.

SpaceX has achieved many benchmarks in developing rockets and lifting payloads. A chief competitor in rockets and payload delivery is Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos. SpaceX has expanded into putting satellites into orbit to provide internet services.

According to press reports , its Starlink system has been used effectively in Ukraine during the war against Russia. What do you think? One Community, Many Voices. Be the first to comment comments posted on Forbes.

Add your voice now. Join the Conversation Apoorva Mehta, an immigrant from Canada, founded the delivery app company Instacart in 2012. Instacart has grown from approximately 300 employees and a value of $2 billion in 2016 to 3,000 employees and $39 billion in 2022.

Mehta has stepped down as CEO but remains the company’s executive chairman. Instacart is expected to file for an initial public offering before the end of 2022. The NFAP report found the 319 immigrant-founded billion-dollar companies (as of May 2022) had a collective value of $1.

2 trillion—more valuable than the companies listed on the major stock markets of several countries, including the Brazil Stock Exchange ($925 billion) and the Madrid Stock Exchange ($727 billion). The value of immigrant-founded U. S.

unicorn companies would rise to $1. 5 trillion if billion-dollar companies acquired or that became publicly traded since 2016 were included, such as Moderna, Cloudflare and Zoom Video. In addition to SpaceX, Stripe and Instacart, the other most valuable unicorn companies with an immigrant founder include Databricks ($38 billion), Epic Games ($31.

5 billion), Miro ($17. 5 billion), Discord ($15 billion), Gopuff ($15 billion), Grammarly ($13 billion), Faire ($12. 59 billion) and Brex ($12.

3 billion). Follow me on Twitter . Check out my website .

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