Foreign-born founders now behind 54% of the UK’s fastest-growing companies
New analysis from The Entrepreneurs Network of the founders behind Britain’s 100 fastest-growing companies shows a record-breaking number were born overseas. Fully 54% of the startups analysed had either a foreign-born founder or co-founder, the highest figure seen since the think tank began tracking it in 2019. At the most recent Census, immigrants comprised around 15% of Britain’s population, and though numbers have grown in the years since, the 54% figure nevertheless shows the hugely disproportionate contribution that foreign-born founders make to the startup economy.
As the chancellor prepares to give her Autumn Budget, The Entrepreneurs Network argues that their findings prove that international talent is indispensable to economic growth and innovation in Britain. They urge the government to rethink parts of its Immigration White Paper, which set out various measures to restrict immigration into the United Kingdom. In particular, the think tank urges the government to:
Protect fast-track settlement for exceptional talent by preserving accelerated pathways to permanent residence (Indefinite Leave to Remain, or ILR) for high-value visa categories and ensure their families can settle on the same timeline.
Reform the Global Talent visa to attract world-class operators by adjusting the criteria of the Global Talent visa and add new sub-categories so that experienced tech operators and ecosystem builders are also welcomed.
Make the Innovator Founder visa more functional by trusting the expert endorsers, offering faster processing, and aligning settlement requirements with startup realities
Design a selective Spinout visa for graduates and academics by building on its commitment to help more academics at British universities to start companies by designing a selective Spinout visa with strict quality controls and a clear path to settlement.
Mitigate financial and administrative barriers for startups by reducing the cost burdens and cashflow strains that the visa system places on early-stage companies and entrepreneurs.
Among those featured in the top 100 with at least one foreign-born founder are companies including AI firm Synthesia, crypto startup Deblock and sustainable online fashion marketplace Cult Mia. Also featured in the report are case studies from some of the foreign-born founders of companies in the top 100 list. These include Teru Adachi of Aprio Technologies, Dimitri Masin of Gradient Labs, Kevin Lester of Validus, and Jing Ouyang of Patchwork.
Eamonn Ives, research director of The Entrepreneurs Network said: “Once again, we see through our analysis the sheer disproportionate role foreign-born founders play at the summit of Britain’s startup ecosystem. They are helping to build the growth companies of the future, and we should be welcoming them with open arms. Immigration is obviously a contentious debate, but nobody sensible wants to pull up the drawbridge to top international talent – and the Government should reflect as it implements its Immigration White Paper.”
Also commenting on the analysis was Nick Rollason, head of immigration at law firm Kingsley Napley, a leading immigration lawyer who supported the research and said: “At a time when the broader immigration policy landscape is being reshaped by external forces, it is vital that the UK government stays focused on remaining open to global talent that can build businesses that create jobs and provide the revenues that pay for public services. The recommendations set out in this report offer timely and practical proposals for improving and expanding immigration options for founders and strengthening the UK’s position as an attractive destination for entrepreneurial talent. With competition for skills and ideas intensifying, the need for agile and forward-looking reforms like these cannot be overstated.”