Ten Pakistanis Among Unicorn Founders in America

There are ten Pakistani immigrants included among founders or co-founders of unicorns in America, according to  a recent study by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). A unicorn is a startup with a valuation of at least one billion U.S. dollars. Immigrant entrepreneurs of US unicorns are diverse, hailing from 76 different countries. India, with 96 companies, is the leading country of origin for the immigrant founders of U.S. billion-dollar companies. Immigrants from Israel founded the second-most billion-dollar companies with 60, followed by the United Kingdom (47), China (41), Canada (30), Russia (23), France (21), Germany (18), Ukraine (16), Australia (14), Pakistan (10) and Romania (10). Some companies were founded by entrepreneurs from the same country or immigrants from multiple countries.

Four of Ten Pakistani-American Founders Listed Among Unicorns


Why are Indian entrepreneurs leading the pack of unicorn founders/co-founders in America?  The key reason is that “the great Indian brain drain” is accelerating with the country rapidly losing its best and brightest to the West, particularly the United States. Large presence of the Indian immigrant unicorn founders in America is attributed to the fact that most immigrant founders come to the U.S. as students or H1B workers, categories dominated by Indians. Over 80% of the H1B visas go to Indian applicants. India also leads in sending students to study in US universities. 

Unicorns in America. Source: NFAP

Pakistan, too, is suffering brain drain but not on the same scale as India. Most prominent among Pakistan-origin unicorn founders/cofounders are Karachi-born Sualeh Asif, Lala Moosa-born Qasar Younis, Karachi’s NED University alumnus Rehan Jalil and Pakistani-American serial entrepreneur Zia Chishti. 

26 year old Karachi born Sualeh Asif, cofounder of Cursor (Anysphere) recently joined the list of Forbes Billionaires after Cursor reached a $29.3 billion valuation in November 2025, according to Forbes magazine. 

43 year old Qasar Younis, a Lala Moosa born Harvard-educated Pakistani-American, is the CEO of  Applied Intuition, a physical AI and autonomous vehicle software firm valued at $15 billion. Younis's resume includes his role as Chief Operating Officer of Y-Combinator, a spawning ground for tech giants Dropbox, Airbnb, and Stripe in Silicon Valley, according to Fortune Magazine.
Rehan Jalil, a fellow alumnus of NED University in Karachi, founded AI-powered data privacy and governance platform Security.AI. The startup has now been acquired by Veeam for $1.725 billion.
Zia Chishti is a serial entrepreneur from Pakistan. He founded Afiniti.AI which reached a $1.6 billion valuation back in 2017. founded his first company Align Technology in 1997 in Silicon Valley. It creates clear plastic braces for straightening teeth by using advanced 3-D computer imaging. The technology now trademarked as Invisalign has helped millions of people straighten their teeth for a beautiful smile without enduring the pain and unsightly looks of the traditional steel brackets and wires used in orthodontics. Align Technology is now valued at $10 billion.

The NFAP study found that immigrants have founded or co-founded 59% (455 of 775) of America’s privately held startup companies valued at $1 billion or more. That is an increase from 55% in NFAP reports released in 2018 and 2022. 

Approximately two-thirds (66%) of U.S. billion- dollar companies (unicorns) were founded or cofounded by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Nearly 80% of America’s unicorn companies (privately held, billion-dollar companies) have an immigrant founder or an immigrant in a key leadership role, such as CEO or vice president of engineering. Almost one in four U.S. billion- dollar companies, or 24%, have a founder who came to America as an international student. The research shows the importance of immigrants in cutting-edge companies and the U.S. economy at a time when U.S. immigration policies have grown more restrictive.

The collective value of the 455 immigrant-founded billion-dollar companies is $5.0 trillion, which is more than the total market value of companies listed on stock markets in all but 7 countries, including the UK and Germany, and a demonstration of the wealth-creating power of immigrants. The collective value of immigrant-founded billion-dollar companies rises to over $5.8 trillion if one includes unicorn companies that have gone public since 2016.

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Comment by Riaz Haq 2 hours ago

@cutoffs.io

🇺🇸🇮🇳 Neeraj Sharma, former CEO of a New Jersey staffing firm, is losing his

US citizenship for H-1B visa fraud.

He filed 11 fake petitions with forged documents for nonexistent bank jobs.

He profited by selling fake visas to foreigners, exploiting the H-1B system.

https://x.com/cutoffs_io/status/2065036941138051324?s=61&t=mgTx...

————

I. INTRODUCTION
1. The United States of America (“Plaintiff”) brings this civil action under 8 U.S.C.
§ 1451(a) against Neeraj Sharma (“Defendant”) to revoke his naturalized U.S. citizenship.
Defendant fraudulently and unlawfully procured U.S. citizenship, because he had committed
crimes prior to naturalizing that rendered him ineligible and because he concealed those crimes,
for which he was charged and convicted after naturalizing, throughout the naturalization process.
Specifically, after he became a U.S. citizen, Defendant pled guilty to Fraud and Misuse of Visas,
in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546, for conduct committed immediately prior to filing of his…..

https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1444721/dl

Comment by Riaz Haq 2 hours ago

An excerpt from ‘India Out of Work: Rethinking India’s Growth Story’, by Santosh Mehrotra and Jajati Parida.
Santosh Mehrotra & Jajati Parida
May 29, 2026 · 08:30 am



https://scroll.in/article/1092862/this-book-re-examines-indias-econ...

Manufacturing employment fell in India after 2015, while it had been consistently stabilised at or around 17% of GDP ever since the economic reforms began in 1991. However, self-inflicted wounds upon the economy by the government did not help. The most labour-intensive sectors, including textiles, wood products, food processing and leather/footwear, struggled until 2018 and did not recover after Covid-19 – except apparel and food processing.

Manufacturing contribution to GVA (gross value added) fell consistently from 2016 onwards, did not begin to recover until 2022 and did not reach its pre-demonetisation level by 2024. The same is observable in manufacturing as a share of total employment, although in absolute terms, by 2023, the absolute number of employees in manufacturing had finally caught up to the 2012 level and exceeded it.

———

India’s Jobs Crisis Explained: 121 Million Youth, 80 Million Back to Farming & the Growth Paradox

https://youtu.be/pjXAvOTgqkI?is=9Z8DcPK3mmmAvW3z


In this episode, economist Santosh Mehrotra joins the conversation to examine one of the most important questions facing India today: if the economy is growing, why are employment concerns continuing to dominate public debate?



Drawing from his book India Out of Work, Santosh Mehrotra challenges several widely accepted assumptions about growth, jobs, formalisation and economic development. The discussion explores why India's demographic opportunity may be narrowing faster than many realise, and what that could mean for the country's future.



Among the issues discussed:

• Nearly 121 million young Indians are estimated to be neither employed, in education, nor in training.

• India's demographic dividend window is projected to narrow around 2040, creating urgency around job creation.

• The economy may need to generate 10–12 million non-farm jobs every year to absorb new entrants into the workforce.

• Between 2020 and 2024, roughly 80 million workers returned to agriculture, reversing a long-term structural trend.

• Unemployment among graduates and degree holders remains a major concern despite rising educational attainment.



The conversation also examines the future of manufacturing, the role of MSMEs, formalisation, inequality, and whether India can create enough opportunities to fully realise its economic ambitions.



Watch till the end for a data-driven discussion on growth, jobs, productivity and the future of India's workforce.

Comment by Riaz Haq 16 minutes ago


Quantinuum’s British-Pakistani Founder Ilyas Khan Becomes Billionaire After $15 Billion IPO on NASDAQ

https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2026/06/09/quantinuums-brit...

Honeywell-backed quantum computing company Quantinuum raised $1.68 billion in an initial public offering last week, making its British founder Illyas Khan a billionaire.

The listing, which is the largest to date for a quantum startup, valued Quantinuum at over $15.6 billion after it sold 28 million shares at $60 each on June 3. Its shares opened at $58 per share on June 9. Khan, who owns around 15% of the company, is now worth $2.2 billion.

Quantinuum was formed in 2021 when Honeywell’s quantum unit based out of Broomfield, Colorado, merged withKhan’s startup Cambridge Quantum Computing, which wrote software for quantum computers. Honeywell’s team had built a new type of quantum computer; rather than running on silicon chips, it instead used ions trapped in place with lasers to execute computations. Honeywell had previously backed Khan's business and invested $300 million as part of the merger, when Khan became the joint company’s chief product officer and vice chairman.

————

British-Pakistani entrepreneur and quantum computing pioneer Ilyas Khan has reportedly become a billionaire after Quantinuum made its Nasdaq debut at a valuation of around $15 billion.

According to reports, Khan’s estimated 15% stake in the company is now valued at more than $2 billion, marking a significant milestone in the global quantum technology industry and highlighting the growing commercial potential of advanced computing.

Quantinuum focuses on developing quantum computing technologies designed to solve complex problems beyond the capabilities of traditional computing systems. The company’s market debut reflects increasing investor interest in emerging technologies such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and next-generation computing infrastructure.

Khan’s journey represents the impact of innovation, entrepreneurship, and long-term investment in deep technology sectors. His achievement also highlights the increasing presence of Pakistani-origin professionals in global technology leadership roles.

As quantum computing continues to evolve, companies working in this field are expected to play an important role in future breakthroughs across industries including healthcare, finance, cybersecurity, and scientific research.

Comment by Riaz Haq 6 minutes ago

Ilyas Khan is a . He is the founder and former CEO of Cambridge Quantum, which merged with Honeywell's quantum division to form Quantinuum, a global leader in quantum technologies valued at over $15 billion. [1, 2, 3, 4]
His professional background and ties to the UK and Pakistan include:
  • Technology & Quantinuum: He established Cambridge Quantum in 2014 and currently serves as the Chief Product Officer at Quantinuum, helping drive enterprise-level breakthroughs in quantum software and hardware. [1, 2]
  • Academic Leadership: He has deep roots in British academia. He is a Life Member of the American Mathematical Society and a Fellow at St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge. He also served as a Leader in Residence at the Judge Business School. [1, 2]
  • Pakistani Tech Initiatives: His influence extends directly to Pakistan's technology sector, where he provides guidance on integrating high-level quantum technologies into Pakistan's growing tech infrastructure. [1]
  • Philanthropy: He was the founding Chairman of the Stephen Hawking Foundation. [1, 2]
Because Khan's career spans multiple high-level sectors, his biography touches on academia, deep tech, and international science partnerships. [1, 2, 3, 4]
If you'd like, I can:
  • Provide more details on his educational background and early career
  • Explain how quantum computing operates at a high level
  • Detail his work regarding The Stephen Hawking Foundation [1, 2]

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