{"id":607970,"date":"2024-02-09T15:30:52","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T12:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-startups-thrive-with-immigrant-founders\/"},"modified":"2024-02-09T15:30:52","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T12:30:52","slug":"why-startups-thrive-with-immigrant-founders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-startups-thrive-with-immigrant-founders\/","title":{"rendered":"#Why startups thrive with immigrant founders"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a288ad22e49a\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a288ad22e49a\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-startups-thrive-with-immigrant-founders\/#Foreign-born_unicorns\" >Foreign-born unicorns\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-startups-thrive-with-immigrant-founders\/#Cashing_in_on_diversity_and_bridging_the_funding_gap\" >Cashing in on diversity and bridging the funding gap<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-startups-thrive-with-immigrant-founders\/#Exit_music\" >Exit music<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-startups-thrive-with-immigrant-founders\/#UK_risks_losing_out_on_diversity_in_founder_teams_and_skills\" >UK risks losing out on diversity in founder teams and skills<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image?fit=796%2C417&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2024%2F02%2FHow-startups-thrive-with-immigrant-founders-e1707472642949.jpg&amp;signature=7f1311b7b2919a4b18cb4bb646ffa55b\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n                            <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The recent changes to immigration rules in the UK have prompted some entrepreneurs to<\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sifted.eu\/articles\/uk-immigration-new-rules-startups\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fear<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that they may be forced to leave the country as they don\u2019t pay themselves enough to meet the new earnings criteria. This could prove a considerable mistake for a country that <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-11-21\/uk-government-plans-to-invest-320m-in-startups-and-spin-outs\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">actively wants<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to attract and encourage startups.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Immigrants make up a disproportionate share of entrepreneurs \u2014 39% of the UK\u2019s fastest-growing startups have <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/58ed40453a04116f46e8d99b\/t\/5d275769b2a56d00017deb2f\/1562859421693\/Job+Creators\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">at least one immigrant co-founder<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, despite only 14.5% of the population being foreign-born.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAmbition lies within an immigrant\u2019s nature \u2014 they are driven to build something they are proud of,\u201d says Nazim Valimahomed, co-founder of UK digital bank Kroo and born in Uganda. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Immigrant founders are ubiquitous worldwide. Their presence was also particularly evident at the SLUSH tech conference in Helsinki, Finland, in December last year. For instance, among the 180 startups currently enrolled at the city\u2019s Maria 01 startup hub, there are over 45 different nationalities. Those involved consider this level of diversity a key factor in the success of the Finnish startup scene.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cTo ensure that the startup ecosystem keeps growing and supports our economic growth, we need to make sure that we are doing what we can to attract international talent to Finland,\u201d says Hanna Nylund, chief impact officer at Maria 01.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper channel-cta\">\n<div class=\"ica-text\">\n<p class=\"ica-text__title\">TNW Conference 2024 &#8211; 2 for 1 Flash Sale<\/p>\n<p>Get two tickets for the price of one. Offer Ends on Monday 12 February<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Foreign-born_unicorns\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Foreign-born unicorns<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most billion-dollar startups in the US were founded by immigrants, <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nfap.com\/research\/new-nfap-policy-brief-immigrant-entrepreneurs-and-u-s-billion-dollar-companies\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">according to a study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). Ethnic-minority founders are behind a third of the correspondingly performing companies in the UK, and Europe\u2019s list of tech unicorns from foreign-born founders is steadily growing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It includes the likes of neobanks bunq and Revolut, quantum cryogenics specialist Bluefors, cyber security company Darktrace, global money exchange platform Wise, machine translation <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">global contender DeepL<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and virtual events provider Hopin \u2014 one of Europe\u2019s fastest growing startups ever \u2014 just to name a few.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This should perhaps be no surprise, as<\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0883902606000887?via%3Dihub\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from Temple University previously uncovered that startups with at least one immigrant founder were more likely to be innovative, both in terms of the products they produced and the business strategies they deployed to bring them to market.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is partly because they bring fresh thinking to their new home and can <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ly what was commonplace in their homeland in a new environment. However, Candace Saffery, an American entrepreneur who founded solar energy company Bia Power in Spain, highlights that this is not possible without also connecting to a great extent to the local ecosystem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBeing an entrepreneur in a foreign country requires a deep dependence on your local team and also on your early adopter customers \u2014 and I see this as a profound advantage,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Cashing_in_on_diversity_and_bridging_the_funding_gap\"><\/span><strong>Cashing in on diversity and bridging the funding gap<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Studies have also proved that a diverse founding team has numerous benefits in terms of the ultimate success of a venture. For instance, <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pm-research.com\/content\/iijpormgmt\/48\/9\/250\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from HEC Paris shows that it can be beneficial to a startup in terms of how it functions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study discovered that an ethnically diverse founding team was <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly more successful in terms of amount of capital raised than teams with only white founders. The authors also found that ethnic diversity had a positive impact on venture performance in certain sectors that were traditionally homogenous, such as advanced manufacturing. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And still, <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/startupsmagazine.co.uk\/article-only-2-vc-funding-goes-female-and-ethnic-minority-founded-businesses\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as little as under 2% of VC funding<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Europe goes to female-founded or ethnic minority businesses. Some investors are hoping to change that, with Denmark\u2019s female-led Unconventional Ventures setting up a \u20ac30mn fund to support diverse founders identifying as women, people of colour, immigrants, and\/or LGBTQ+.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another example is the UK\u2019s No Label Ventures, an early-stage and \u201cvery biassed\u201d VC fund which supports startups with at least one founder that has immigrated from outside of Western Europe. Ramzi Rafih, general partner of the fund, was born in Lebanon during a civil war and later arrived in France with his parents. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThemes of resilience and over performance can be seen in immigrants and diverse teams, hence our bias and commitment to these entrepreneurs who may start their journeys underfunded, but frequently go on to win big,\u201d Rafih <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/tech.eu\/2023\/03\/29\/no-label-ventures-the-new-vc-firm-for-immigrant-founders\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">told Tech.eu<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Exit_music\"><\/span><strong>Exit music<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\/><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\/><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The value of a diverse founding team was also reflected in recent<\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/10422587231211006\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the University of Toronto, which shows that immigrant founders are more likely to achieve successful exits, either via an initial public offering (IPO) or via an acquisition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not only was an exit more likely, however, but there were also differences in how and when founders decided to cash in. The authors explain that exits typically come either when the firm is just beginning to generate sales or when it has already achieved a degree of traction in the market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, remember, immigrant founders are more likely to be innovative, both in terms of the products and services they produce and also their route to market. This means they\u2019re more likely to have a high growth trajectory, which, in turn, means that they\u2019re also more likely to seek an exit during this initial revenue stage than they are to wait until the business has matured and is profitable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The researchers looked at nearly 600 Israeli tech startups, each of whom had exited in some way. Of the cohort, just over 10% had immigrants in the founding team. Those startups with immigrant founders were disproportionately likely to achieve an exit either via acquisition or IPO.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the findings are a case of correlation rather than perhaps causation, the researchers are nonetheless confident that diverse founding teams do increase the likelihood that the startup will achieve success, at least in terms of exiting successfully.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"UK_risks_losing_out_on_diversity_in_founder_teams_and_skills\"><\/span>UK risks losing out on diversity in founder teams and skills<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The composition of a startup founding team is obviously incredibly important in terms of the skills mix within it. But research shows cultural diversity could be just as essential. From a policy perspective, if a nation truly wants to be the next \u201cstartup nation,\u201d then it should give serious consideration to removing any restrictions that might stand in the way of immigrant founders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new immigration rules in the UK significantly raise the costs associated with recruiting via the skilled worker visa, while the minimum salary requirement will price many graduates out of jobs. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At a time when startups are already facing funding difficulties, adding additional costs is a strain that many will not be able to bear. It\u2019s a situation that may force many immigrant founders to look elsewhere when they\u2019re considering where to plant the roots of their startup. And their new selected home nations will be the ones who stand to gain.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/startups-thrive-immigran-founders\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The recent changes to immigration rules in the UK have prompted some entrepreneurs to fear that they may be forced to leave the country as they don\u2019t pay themselves enough to meet the new earnings criteria. This could prove a considerable mistake for a country that actively wants to attract and encourage startups. Immigrants make&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":607971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/How-startups-thrive-with-immigrant-founders-e1707472642949.jpg&signature=d0dc43c2576902d4796bdac0a38ac0b3","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-607970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}