Immigrants Drive U.S. AI Boom, Raising $167B-2.5x More Than U.S.-Born Founders

Wilmington, DE, July 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immigrant founders are driving the U.S. AI boom, raising 2.5x more funding than startups led solely by U.S.-born entrepreneurs, according to a new report from Dreem, an AI-powered immigration platform for tech talent.

Immigrant Founders Drive Majority of U.S. AI Innovation and Investment

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.

Key Findings:

• 62% of top private U.S. AI companies have at least one non–U.S.-born founder
• Companies with immigrant founders raised $167B, vs. $68.1B by U.S.-born-only teams
• Immigrant-founded companies include industry leaders such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, xAI, and Waymo
• India (23 founders), Israel (14), and China (9) lead among non–U.S. founder countries
• 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

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.

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.

“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. However, Trump’s immigration policies, particularly the restrictive country caps, severely limit the influx of global AI talent. These arbitrary quotas stifle progress and risk a brain drain, pushing visionaries to countries with less restrictive systems. 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,”- Dmitri Litvinov, CEO & Co-Founder of Dreem.

About Dreem:
Dreem is an immigration platform for tech founders and talents to secure U.S. visas. By combining expert guidance from U.S.-licensed attorneys, the precision of advanced AI tools, and a project-based approach, Dreem offers a seamless, cost-effective alternative to traditional immigration services. Founded by immigrants and former executives at Uber, Rakuten, Airbnb, and WeWork, Dreem treats every visa application like a well-run project, managing strategy, documentation, and timelines with precision. With over 120 successful cases and growing traction among FAANG employers, Dreem helps global tech talent build careers and drive innovation in the U.S. For more information, please visit: https://idreem.com.

anna (at) ma.family

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]