Prosus-Dealroom index finds founders who grew up in India have helped build 205 current and former unicorns outside the country, with most based in the US
Founders who grew up in India have built or co-founded 205 current and former unicorns outside India, accounting for about $560 billion in founder-share-attributed company value, according to the Indian Diaspora Index by technology investor Prosus and startup data platform Dealroom.
The companies tracked by the index have a combined valuation of about $1.09 trillion. However, the $560 billion figure does not represent the founders’ actual personal wealth or shareholdings. Instead, the methodology divides a company’s value equally among its founders and counts only the portion attributed to founders who grew up in India.
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Of the 205 overseas unicorns, 70 were built entirely by founding teams made up of people who grew up in India
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These companies account for around $243 billion in value
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The remaining 135 companies have Indian-origin founders working alongside co-founders from other backgrounds and account for another $317 billion on the same basis
The index also highlights the strong concentration of Indian-origin entrepreneurship in the United States. About 187 of the 205 companies, or roughly 91 per cent, are based in the US, according to the report.
Companies associated with Indian-origin founders include cybersecurity firm Zscaler, cloud security company Rubrik, enterprise software firm Nutanix, Icertis and AI company Skild. Founders identified in the report include Jay Chaudhry of Zscaler and founding teams behind Rubrik and Nutanix.
The findings offer a broader measure of the Indian diaspora’s economic footprint, extending beyond remittances, employment and migration to entrepreneurship and technology creation.
For comparison, the index identified 101 current and former unicorns in India, with founder-share-attributed value of about $349 billion.
