Start-Up Brain Drain: The Next Threat To Canadian Venture Capital?
When US VCs grow introspective, it’s almost never good for Canada. Which is why we should all be concerned about the self-reflection now taking place south of the border.
In recent months, US VCs have cottoned on to the importance of immigrant entrepreneurs to an innovation economy. This used to be Canada’s exclusive domain; thanks to historical inclination and demographics, we’ve long known we need foreign innovators in order to grow our economy.
Now, US venture capital is catching up. Their zeal is fueled by a recently released study by the NVCA, which notes that (a) immigrants have started more than 25% of U.S. public companies that were formerly venture backed, and (b) more than 50% of the employment generated by U.S. public venture-backed companies has come from immigrant-founded companies like Intel, eBay, Yahoo!, and Sun.
The New York Times has also taken note, citing Harvard Law professor Vivek Wadhwa’s claim that 52.4% of today’s Silicon Valley startups have at least one foreign founder. US VCs are figuring that, to expand domestic deal flow, they need to expand the immigrant entrepreneur base.
As a result, US VCs are now actively lobbying the Obama administration to increase the number of specialty worker visas (referred to longingly by Canadians with dreams of a Silicon Valley life as H1B Visa).
This is not the best of news for Canada, unless you are a young entrepreneur who believes his business would get more and better financial backing if only he could relocate to California. The limited number of H1B Visas in the US has driven high tech growth in Canada, in some respects; in several cases, American businesses who cannot attract or sponsor adequate numbers of high tech professionals have near shored that work to Canada.
In a larger sense, there is an active competition heating up for innovators from outside of North America, one which Canada can ill afford to lose. Canada has some immigration programs for entrepreneurs which are laudable, but not spectacularly effective. There is a need to think and plan for how to capture this desirable talent pool, before new market entrants steal our thunder.
In recent months, US VCs have cottoned on to the importance of immigrant entrepreneurs to an innovation economy. This used to be Canada’s exclusive domain; thanks to historical inclination and demographics, we’ve long known we need foreign innovators in order to grow our economy.
Now, US venture capital is catching up. Their zeal is fueled by a recently released study by the NVCA, which notes that (a) immigrants have started more than 25% of U.S. public companies that were formerly venture backed, and (b) more than 50% of the employment generated by U.S. public venture-backed companies has come from immigrant-founded companies like Intel, eBay, Yahoo!, and Sun.
The New York Times has also taken note, citing Harvard Law professor Vivek Wadhwa’s claim that 52.4% of today’s Silicon Valley startups have at least one foreign founder. US VCs are figuring that, to expand domestic deal flow, they need to expand the immigrant entrepreneur base.
As a result, US VCs are now actively lobbying the Obama administration to increase the number of specialty worker visas (referred to longingly by Canadians with dreams of a Silicon Valley life as H1B Visa).
This is not the best of news for Canada, unless you are a young entrepreneur who believes his business would get more and better financial backing if only he could relocate to California. The limited number of H1B Visas in the US has driven high tech growth in Canada, in some respects; in several cases, American businesses who cannot attract or sponsor adequate numbers of high tech professionals have near shored that work to Canada.
In a larger sense, there is an active competition heating up for innovators from outside of North America, one which Canada can ill afford to lose. Canada has some immigration programs for entrepreneurs which are laudable, but not spectacularly effective. There is a need to think and plan for how to capture this desirable talent pool, before new market entrants steal our thunder.
posted by Suzanne Dingwall Williams at
7:23 PM
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