Relocation as a Driver of Innovative Activity: A Global Study of Unicorn Founders’ Migration

This paper investigates the migration flows of uni-corns – private companies that achieve a market value at least one billion USD within ten years. concept was recently introduced by professional investors but has actively entered global expert and political agenda. The ability national innovation systems to grow unicorns become new hallmark success. study uses most complete sample as July 2022 (1,357 unicorns), for each them we identified founders, their countries birth, educational institutions they graduated from.Among main results, it is revealed 40% billion-dollar were created with participation foreign founders. authors three country groups depending on founders’ direction: “attracting” unicorns, “growing own” “losing everything”. A comparative analysis countries’ profiles made possible identify unicorn growth attraction factors. It emphasized universities are significant resource both strategies, since founders from leading world every third entrepreneur educated in migration. shown strategy attracting complements could provide flow noted involved flow: not only attract also act largest suppliers. put forward recommendations companies.