Study tracks 205 current and former overseas unicorns with founders who grew up in India, with 91 per cent based in the US
Founders who grew up in India account for about $560 billion in founder-share-attributed company value across 205 current and former unicorns based outside the country, according to the new Indian Diaspora Index by Prosus and Dealroom.
The index highlights the growing global footprint of Indian entrepreneurial talent, particularly in the technology sector. Of the 205 companies tracked, 70 were built entirely by founders who grew up in India, accounting for about $243 billion in value on the report’s founder-share basis.
These include cybersecurity firm Zscaler, cloud data management company Rubrik, enterprise software firm Nutanix and artificial intelligence company Skild. Another 135 unicorns have Indian-origin founders as part of mixed founding teams. Together, their attributed value is estimated at $317 billion.
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The United States dominates the overseas landscape. Some 187 of the 205 companies, or about 91 per cent, are based in the US, underlining the country’s importance as a destination for India-raised entrepreneurs building high-value global businesses
The report also compares the overseas cohort with India’s domestic unicorn ecosystem. It identifies 102 India-based unicorns with approximately $349 billion in founder-share-attributed value, including Flipkart, Zomato and Groww.
Prosus and Dealroom stressed that the $560 billion figure should not be interpreted as the personal wealth of Indian-origin founders or the amount they actually own in their companies. The methodology divides a company’s value equally among its founders and counts the portion attributed to qualifying founders, regardless of their actual equity holdings.
A broader analysis covering founders born in India identifies 323 unicorns globally, further illustrating the scale of Indian entrepreneurial participation in international technology and business ecosystems.
