According to the new Indian Diaspora Index, prepared by Prosus and Dealroom, founders who grew up in India are responsible for $560 billion in founder equity value among 205 existing and former unicorns outside of India. This report demonstrates the value created by entrepreneurs from India who developed their businesses in global markets.
The index analyzed 205 international unicorns that have at least one founder who grew up in India. It found that 70 such unicorns, with a total valuation of $243 billion, were founded entirely by Indian founders, such as Jay Chaudhry (Zscaler), Arvind Jain, Arvind Nithrakashyap, Bipul Sinha, and Soham Mazumdar (Rubrik), Ajeet Singh, Dheeraj Pandey, and Mohit Aron (Nutanix), as well as Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta (Skild).
Furthermore, another 135 unicorns whose core teams have Indian origins, including Palo Alto, Bloom Energy, Astera Labs, and Perplexity, contribute $317 billion based on founder equity. In total, these companies amount to approximately $560 billion by this metric.
In comparison, 102 unicorns based in India are valued at approximately $349 billion using the same methodology, led by Flipkart ($36 billion), Zomato ($30 billion), and Groww ($16 billion).
Saurav Jain, Senior Investor at Prosus India, noted: 'The Indian Diaspora Index measures something we have personally seen and experienced in India: an exceptional density of talent with ambitions to build on a massive scale, often solving some of the country's most complex and significant problems.'
He added that Indian founders are capable of transforming technology, ingenuity, and deep local understanding into businesses that can fundamentally change people's lives and work.
Geographic Concentration of Success
A notable finding is the geographic concentration of this success. A broader analysis based on birthplace shows that 62 percent of these companies are located in the United States, making this ecosystem dominant for Indian founders creating high-value companies. In total, 200 out of 323 companies in this broader group were either founded (178) or relocated (22) to the United States.
This birthplace analysis includes founders who left India in childhood and companies based in India; it differs from the narrower international index which considers founders who grew up in India. Jain stated: 'The influence of Indian entrepreneurial talent extends far beyond the borders of the country.' He concluded that the index provides an important perspective on how Indian-origin founders contribute to value creation in global markets, with the US serving as a particularly significant ecosystem for this activity.
The results indicate the growing global nature of Indian entrepreneurship, extending the country's influence far beyond its domestic startup landscape. Among the international unicorns in the Indian Diaspora Index, 91 percent (187 out of 205) are based in the US.
