India leads with 23 founders as immigrants are driving the U.S. AI boom, raising 2.5 times more funding than startups led solely by U.S.-born entrepreneurs, according to a new report.
India is followed by Israel with 14 and China nine among non–U.S. founder countries, according to the report from Dreem, a Wilmington, Delaware based AI-powered immigration platform for tech talent.
As AI is projected to contribute over $15 trillion to the global economy by 2030, the United States stands out as a hub of innovation, driven not only by capital but by the people building the future.
Dreem’s analysis of the top 100 privately held U.S.-based AI companies—ranked by total funding—reveals that 62% were founded by at least one immigrant, accounting for 71% of total funding ($167 billion). Startups founded exclusively by U.S.-born entrepreneurs raised only $68.1 billion, or 29% of the funding total.
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Despite their impact, immigrant AI entrepreneurs face mounting obstacles. Visa quotas, processing backlogs, and country caps are making it increasingly difficult for global talent to build in the U.S., according to the report.
Countries like Canada, the UK, and the UAE have responded with fast-track visas and startup-friendly immigration policies, posing a serious threat to U.S. dominance in the sector, it notes.
“Immigrant founders fuel America’s AI dominance, raising 2.5 times more funding than U.S.-born founders, driving innovation, and creating jobs that power our economy,” says Dmitri Litvinov, CEO and co-founder of Dreem.
However, President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, particularly the restrictive country caps, severely limit the influx of global AI talent, he says noting, “These arbitrary quotas stifle progress and risk a brain drain, pushing visionaries to countries with less restrictive systems.”
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“The U.S. must abolish country caps and streamline skilled immigration to secure its AI leadership, or lose out on the next wave of breakthroughs,” says Litvinov.
Key Findings:
- 62% of top private U.S. AI companies have at least one non–U.S.-born founder
- Companies with immigrant founders raised $167 billion, vs. $68.1 billion by U.S.-born-only teams
- Immigrant-founded companies include industry leaders such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, xAI, and Waymo
- The AI sector’s epicenter remains California (66%), followed by New York (15%) and Texas (4%)
- San Francisco alone is home to 26% of the top 100 companies.