StartUp Visa - Immigrants on Wall St. Journal's Top 50 Venture Backed Company List?
I don't want to be presumptious and assume that every Indian, Pakistani, Iranian or Chinese name on the Wall St. Journal's list Top 50 VC Backed Companies is a recent immigrant, but I bet it's a good guess that a lot of them are. I bet there are also Canadians, French, Germans, Italians and Australians on the list below, who's names don't stand out (except for guys like Giovanni Colella and Jean-Marc Verdiell)!! It's simply astounding to look at the Founders column in the list below and read the names and the variety of companies that they have created.
This, of course, comes as no surprise to anyone in the technology or venture community. In our small company alone, we have 4 first-generation immigrants, out of our 12 full time employees (including myself!). That's 33% of our FTE base. I am sure that there are plenty of venture capital firms out there, who's antenna goes up when they see a business plan led by a CEO with an Indian-sounding name!
Why can't we admit that it may not be a bad thing to be positively discriminatory in our immigration policy (as opposed to negative discrimination)? We need to create programs that encourage people to bring capital, brains, ambition and innovation to this country. Wouldn't we all benefit from such a policy, both short-term and long-term?
Simply put, we need an immigration public discourse that is based on facts and common sense, and less on rhetoric and unsubstantiated bias. We need a debate that talks about jobs "created" by immigrants, as much as it includes jobs "taken" by immigrants.
ankCompany NameLocationIndustryFounder(s)InvestorsProduct/ServiceNumber of EmployeesYear FoundedWhy It's Hot2010 RankTotal Equity Raised in MillionsLoading...1Castlight Health Inc.San FranciscoHealth CareGiovanni Colella, Todd ParkCleveland Clinic Foundation, Fidelity Growth Partners Europe, Maverick Capital Ltd., Morgan Stanley, Oak Investment Partners, U.S. Venture Partners, Venrock, Wellcome TrustWeb-based software that gives employees personalized views of medical benefits and treatment costs.1002008As consumers pay more of their health-care bills, Castlight lifts the veil on medical costs.14$81.002Xirrus Inc.Thousand Oaks, Calif.Information TechnologySteven DeGennaro, Dirk Gates, Patrick ParkerAugust Capital, Canaan Partners, Individual Investors, InterWest Partners, QuestMark Partners, U.S. Venture PartnersEnterprise Wi-Fi systems.1702003Founder Dirk Gates previously took another start-up, Xircom, public and then sold it to Intel.9$80.253Xactly Corp.San Jose, Calif.Business and Financial ServicesChristopher Cabrera, Satish PalvaiAlloy Ventures, Bay Partners LLC, Bridgescale Partners, Cheyenne Partners, Glynn Capital Management, Key Venture Partners, Outlook Ventures, Rembrandt Venture Partners, Salesforce.com Inc., Spinner Asset ManagementWeb-based software for managing sales compensation.1402005Xactly's partners include Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce.com, which invested last June. $69.004Recycle Rewards Inc.New YorkBusiness and Financial ServicesPatrick FitzGerald, Ron GonenCoca-Cola Bottling Group, Generation Investment Management, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, RRE Ventures, Sigma Partners, Westly GroupPartnerships with cities to boost recycling.1502004Recyclebank is expanding internationally and currently operates in 29 states.25$73.355ExteNet Systems Inc.Lisle, Ill.Information TechnologyRoss Manire, Eric LekaczCentennial Ventures Inc., CenterPoint Ventures, Columbia Capital LLC, Individual Investors, Palomar Ventures, SBA Communications Corp., Sevin Rosen Funds, Soros Fund Management LLCNetwork infrastructure for wireless service providers.862002ExteNet raised $128 million in a January 2010 round led by George Soros's investment firm. $191.906Cyan Optics Inc.Petaluma, Calif.Information TechnologyMichael Hatfield, Rick Johnston, Steve West, Eric ClellandAzure Capital Partners, Focus Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Telecommunications Development Fund, Juniper Networks Inc., Meritech Capital Partners, Kinetic Ventures, Grande Ventures, Tenaya CapitalTechnology to deliver voice, video and data over broadband networks.1022006CEO Michael Hatfield previously founded Calix Networks, which held an IPO last year. $90.837Aster Data Systems Inc.San Carlos, Calif.Information TechnologyTasso Argyros, Mayank Bawa, George CandeaCambrian Ventures, Individual Investors, Institutional Venture Partners, JAFCO Ventures, Sequoia CapitalData management and advanced analytics for businesses.1022005Aster helps companies analyze data to understand customer behavior and detect fraud. $47.008Glam Media Inc.Brisbane, Calif.Consumer ServicesSamir Arora, Rebecca Bogle Arora, Ernie Cicogna, Susan Kare, Dianna Mullins, Raj Narayan, Fernando Ruarte, Vic ZaudAccel Partners, ADK, Aeris Capital, Dentsu Inc., Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DAG Ventures, GLG Partners Inc., Hubert Burda Media, Individual Investors, Information Capital, Mizuho Capital Co. Ltd., Nikkei Business Publications Inc., Shogagukan Inc., Syueisya, Walden Venture CapitalWeb publisher with 2,000 lifestyle sites offering advertisers targeted audiences.3002004Glam's sites attract 198 million monthly visitors world-wide.13$154.209Carrier IQ Inc.Mountain View, Calif.Information TechnologyBruce Lacey, Steve RoskowskiAccel Partners, Bridgescale Partners, Charles River Ventures, Intel Capital, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Nauta Capital, Presidio Ventures Inc.Software for mobile devices that gives carriers insight into customer usage.752005The software sits on 140 million devices world-wide, providing data to Sprint and Vodafone. $48.0010Imperva Inc.Redwood Shores, Calif.Information TechnologyMickey Boodaei, Shlomo Kramer, Amichai ShulmanAccel Partners, Gold Hill Capital, Greylock Partners, Individual Investors, Meritech Capital Partners, U.S. Venture Partners, VenrockData security and audit systems for companies.3502002CEO Shlomo Kramer co-founded one of Israel's largest tech companies, Check Point Software. $54.0011Vidyo Inc.Hackensack, N.J.Information TechnologyAlex Eleftheriadis, Avery More, Ofer ShapiroFour Rivers Group, Menlo Ventures, Rho Ventures, Sevin Rosen Funds, Star Ventures ManagementHD-quality video-conferencing applications and services for personal computers.1402005Vidyo powers Google Chat and bundles its software on Hewlett-Packard PCs.35$61.1912Etsy Inc.Brooklyn, N.Y.Consumer ServicesRobert Kalin, Chris Maguire, Haim Schoppik, Jared TarbellAccel Partners, Acton Capital Partners, Hubert Burda Media, Index Ventures, Individual Investors, Union Square VenturesOnline marketplace for buying and selling handmade goods.1852005It's profitable and in August it estimated 2010 revenue of $30 million to $50 million. $51.2513RGB Networks Inc.Sunnyvale, Calif.Information TechnologyEdward Krause, Peter Monta, Adam TomAccel Partners, Comcast Interactive Capital, Focus Ventures, Granite Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners Inc.Technology for delivering video to TVs, computers and mobile devices.1752003RGB acquired mobile-video rival RipCode in June. $119.0014IronKey Inc.Sunnyvale, Calif.Information TechnologyDavid JevansBridgescale Partners, Crosslink Capital, Individual Investors, Leapfrog Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Seraph GroupSecure USB storage and authentication devices and anti-fraud systems.1002005Founder and Chairman David Jevans helped develop Apple's Internet strategy. $50.3015Appia Inc.Durham, N.C.Information TechnologyJud BowmanBlackBerry Partners Fund, Noro-Moseley Partners, TomorrowVentures LLC, Trident Capital, Wakefield GroupMobile-app stores for industry players.512008Appia is moving to build app marketplaces for the likes of AT&T and Samsung. $18.2516The Active Network Inc.San DiegoBusiness and Financial ServicesJames WoodmanABS Ventures, Austin Ventures, Canaan Partners, Charles River Ventures, Comdisco Ventures, ESPN Inc., Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, Hambrecht EU Capital, IAC/Elicia Acquisition Corp., Kettle Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, Outlook Ventures, Performance Equity Management, Rocket Ventures, Tao Venture Partners, Wand PartnersLifestyle Web publisher and online service for managing and promoting events.2,5001998Having raised at least $275 million, Active has made numerous acquisitions. $272.4417Nimble Storage Inc.San Jose, Calif.Information TechnologyUmesh Maheshwari, Varun MehtaAccel Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia CapitalStorage, backup and disaster-recovery systems. 552008Nimble has built an appliance that provides primary and backup storage in one box. $24.2718PatientSafe Solutions Inc.San DiegoHealth CareKim Rubin, David SwensonAmerican River Ventures, Camden Partners, Dima Ventures, Individual Investors, Integral Capital Partners, Menlo Ventures, North Bay Angels, Psilos Group Managers LLC, Sacramento Angels, Shea Ventures, Shoreline Venture Partners, Texas Pacific Group Growth, Valhalla CapitalMobile system for nurses.802002After raising $30 million in February, PatientSafe completed and launched its iPod Touch system. $71.5019Glaukos Corp.Laguna Hills, Calif.Health CareOlav Bergheim, Richard Hill, Morteza GharibDomain Associates LLC, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, InterWest Partners, Meritech Capital, Montreux Equity Partners, OrbiMed Advisors LLC, Versant Venture Management LLCMedical devices and therapies to treat glaucoma.402001Glaukos is developing a new medical-device treatment for open-angle glaucoma. $117.5520Fusion-io Inc.Salt Lake CityInformation TechnologyDavid Flynn, Rick White Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Dell Ventures, Iron Capital Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mercato Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Pelion Venture Partners, Samsung Group, Sumitomo Ventures, Triangle Peak Partners LPFlash-memory drives for servers.3702006Executive team boasts Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.2$111.5021Achaogen Inc.South San Francisco, Calif.Health CareNathaniel David, J. Kevin Judice, Floyd Romesberg, Peter Schultz5AM Ventures, Alta Partners, ARCH Venture Partners LP, Domain Associates LLC, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Venrock, Versant Venture Management LLC, Wellcome TrustAntibiotics for multi-drug resistant bacterial infections.642004Has support from the National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense. $103.0022NeuroPace Inc.Mountain View, Calif.Health CareRobert Fischell, David FischellDomain Associates LLC, InterWest Partners, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, MedVenture Associates, New Enterprise Associates, Technology PartnersImplantable devices for treating epilepsy and other neurological disorders.901997Filed for approval of a system to monitor and stop epileptic seizures.12$130.3023Xoom Corp.San FranciscoBusiness and Financial ServicesAlan Braverman, Kevin HartzDAG Ventures, Volition Capital (formerly Fidelity Ventures), Individual Investors, New Enterprise Associates, Sequoia Capital, SVB Capital, Undisclosed Venture Investor(s)Online international money-transfer services.702001Two large, undisclosed public equities firms led its last $33 million round. $81.4424Workday Inc.Pleasanton, Calif.Business and Financial ServicesAneel Bhusri, David DuffieldGreylock Partners, Individual Investors, New Enterprise AssociatesWeb-based software for managing back-office tasks.6502005The latest effort from Dave Duffield is challenging his earlier creation, PeopleSoft.16$110.0025SpiderCloud Wireless Inc.Santa Clara, Calif.Information TechnologyPeter WexlerCharles River Ventures, Matrix Partners, Opus Capital, Shasta Ventures, Undisclosed InvestorsIndoor mobile-broadband networking gear for wireless operators.602008Helps carriers meet the growing demand for mobile broadband on corporate campuses. $54.1026Jive Software Inc.Palo Alto, Calif.Information TechnologyBill Lynch, Matt TuckerKleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia CapitalCollaboration and marketing software for companies.3362001Financed by Google backers Kleiner and Sequoia, Jive Software brings social-networking tools to big business. $57.5727Federated Media PublishingSan FranciscoConsumer ServicesJohn BatelleIndividual Investors, JPMorgan Partners, Oak Investment Partners, Omidyar Network, The New York Times Co.Pairs independent Web publishers and advertisers.1652005Federated Media has made three acquisitions since August to bulk up its advertising and publishing network. $57.2528Boku Inc.San FranciscoBusiness and Financial ServicesMark Britto, Ron Hirson, Erich RingewaldAndreessen Horowitz, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Index Ventures, Khosla VenturesService that lets consumers charge online purchases to their mobile-phone bills.652009CEO Mark Britto previously led Ingenio to an acquisition by AT&T and Accept.com to Amazon. $38.0029Zoosk Inc.San FranciscoConsumer ServicesShayan Zadeh, Alexander MehrAmidzad, ATA Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Canaan PartnersDating service using the Web, social networks and mobile.802007The "social" online-dating company has more than 15 million active monthy users.42$40.1030EndoGastric Solutions Inc.Redmond, Wash.Health CareStefan KraemerAdvanced Technology Ventures, Canaan Partners, Chicago Growth Partners, De Novo Ventures, Foundation Medical Partners, MPM Capital, Oakwood Medical Management, Radius Ventures LLCIncisionless surgery for gastrointestinal diseases.1202003With $120 million total raised, EndoGastric is pushing to profitability. $128.6831Chegg Inc.Santa Clara, Calif.Consumer ServicesAayush Phumbhra, Osman RashidAce Limited, Foundation Capital, Gabriel Venture Partners, Individual Investors, Insight Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Pinnacle Ventures, Primera Capital, TriplePoint CapitalTextbook rental service.1502007Chegg recently acquired two firms to expand into other student services.32$166.2032Everyday Health Inc.New YorkConsumer ServicesMichael Keriakos, Benjamin WolinBerkshires Capital Investors, BEV Capital, Foundation Capital, NeoCarta Ventures, Revolution Partners, Rho Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Star Ventures Management, Technology Crossover Ventures, Time Warner Investments, Village Ventures Inc.Online publisher with more than 25 health-related sites.4002002Everyday Health's sites host 26.5 million visitors a month. In January, it partnered with AOL. $77.2033Xsigo Systems Inc.San Jose, Calif.Business and Financial ServicesR.K. Anand, Ashok Krishnamurthi, S.K. VinodDAG Ventures, Greylock Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, North Bridge Venture Partners, Presidio Ventures Inc.Hardware and software for managing datacenters.1102004Xsigo's board of directors includes Veritas Software's Mark Leslie and HP's chairman Ray Lane. $60.0034Soasta Inc.Mountain View, Calif.Information TechnologyKenneth Gardner, Tom LounibosCanaan Partners, Formative Ventures, Individual Investors, Pelion Venture Partners, The Entrepreneurs' FundCloud-based software-testing services.1002006Soasta tests the mettle of online services prior to launch by simulating heavy traffic.36$21.0535Rally Software Development Corp.Boulder, Colo.Information TechnologyRyan MartensBoulder Ventures, Greylock Partners, Individual Investors, Mobius Venture Capital Inc., Mohr Davidow Ventures, Vista VenturesProducts and services for managing software development.2412002Rally was named the sixth best place to work in the U.S. by Outside magazine last year. $49.2536Prosper Marketplace Inc.San FranciscoBusiness and Financial ServicesChristian Larsen, John WitchelAccel Partners, Agilus Ventures, Benchmark Capital, CompuCredit Holdings, DAG Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, Omidyar Network, QED Investors, TomorrowVentures LLCPeople-to-people lending marketplace.382005Prosper leveraged the credit crisis to build a service matching lenders and borrowers. $54.2437Pivot3 Inc.HoustonInformation TechnologyRyan Callison, Lee Caswell, Bill Galloway, Alan SkidmoreFocus Ventures, InterWest Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mesirow Financial, Northleaf Capital Partners Ltd., Silver Creek VenturesStorage platforms for video surveillance and virtual desktops.782003It says bookings doubled each of the last four years. $78.0038Suniva Inc.Norcross, Ga.Energy and UtilitiesAjeet RohatgiAdvanced Equities Financial, Apex Venture Partners, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., H.I.G. Capital LLC, New Enterprise Associates, Warburg Pincus LLCSolar cells and modules.1902007One of the only start-up solar-cell makers in the U.S. that's enjoying rising demand.15$130.5039Veracyte Inc.South San Francisco, Calif.Health CareBonnie AndersonDomain Associates LLC, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, TPG Biotech, Versant Venture Management LLCGenomic tests for diagnosing cancers.402008Developing minimally invasive molecular tests to provide earlier cancer diagnoses. $49.0040ExactTarget Inc.IndianapolisBusiness and Financial ServicesChris Baggott, Scott Dorsey, Peter McCormickBattery Ventures, Greenspring Associates, Scale Venture Partners, Technology Crossover VenturesTechnology for email, social-media and mobile marketing.8502000Exact Target scrapped an IPO in 2009 and has bought three companies in 17 months. $155.5041OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc.Redwood City, Calif.Health CareMichael Clarke, Max WichaAdams Street Partners LLC, Bay Partners LLC, De Novo Ventures, Delphi Ventures, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Latterell Venture Partners, Morgenthaler, Phase4 Ventures, Triple Point Capital, U.S. Venture Partners, Vertical GroupTherapies that target tumor-causing cancer stem cells.762004OncoMed has shown an ability to attack cancer stem cells, which resist traditional chemotherapy. $168.0242ExaGrid Systems Inc.Westborough, Mass.Information TechnologyJames Pownell, Dave TherrienHighland Capital Partners LLC, Investor Growth Capital Inc., Sigma Partners, Tenaya CapitalDisk-based data backup systems.1452002ExaGrid's technology is similar to that of Data Domain, the subject of a $2.2 billion EMC-NetApp bidding war. $78.1043SeeSaw Networks Inc.San FranciscoBusiness and Financial ServicesPeter Bowen, Jeff Dickey, Rocky Gunderson, Scott Hines, Monte ZwebenSutter Hill VenturesNetwork of digital signs that show video advertising and content.202006Founder Monte Zweben previously founded Blue Martini Software and Red Pepper. $19.5944Silver Peak Systems Inc.Santa Clara, Calif.Information TechnologyDavid HughesArtis Capital Management, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Greylock Partners, J. & W. Seligman, Pinnacle VenturesAppliances that speed the movement of data between datacenters.1502004Silver Peak is growing quickly and taking on larger rival Riverbed Technology.20$59.8045Zilliant Inc.Austin, TexasInformation TechnologyAlex Chien, Deborah Vollmer Dahlke, Peter ZandanABS Ventures, Austin Ventures, Cardinal Venture Capital, DB Capital Venture Partners, GE Capital, Equity, Individual Investors, JPMorgan Partners, Liberty Mutual, LMIA Coinvestors, SMH Private Equity Group, Trellis PartnersSoftware for optimizing pricing and revenue.1201999Zilliant uses scientific data to maximize profits by fine-tuning pricing. $62.4746Yammer Inc.San FranciscoBusiness and Financial ServicesAdam Pisoni, David SacksCharles River Ventures, Emergence Capital Partners, Founders Fund, Goldcrest Investments, SV Angel, U.S. Venture PartnersPrivate, secure social networks for enterprises.1002008Called "Facebook for business," Yammer has been embraced by employees at large companies. $40.0047Bivio Networks Inc.Pleasanton, Calif.Information TechnologyJunaid Islam, Jeff Payne, Homayoun ValizadehCross Pacific Technology Partners LLC, Goldman Sachs Ventures, Individual Investors, InterWest Partners, Itochu Corp., Silver Creek Ventures, Storm Ventures, Venrock, Western Technology Investment Inc.Security of government and service-provider networks.602000Its government contracts helped it navigate the recession better than most. $78.3048TxVia Inc.New YorkBusiness and Financial ServicesCarl Ansley, Colin Fleming, Aaron TayBain Capital Ventures, Espirito Santo Ventures, New York City Investment Fund, Oak Investment Partners, Village Ventures Inc.Prepaid-card processing technology.1502006CEO Anil Aggarwal has a decade of experience running electronic-payments firms. $51.5049Service-now.com Inc.Del Mar, Calif.Information TechnologyFred LuddyJMI Equity Fund, Sequoia CapitalCloud service for IT help-desk requests from enterprise employees.3002003Founder and CEO Fred Luddy was CTO of Peregrine Systems and Remedy. Former Documentum CEO Jeff Miller and Proflowers.com CEO Bill Strauss became directors last year.45$54.8650Aprius Inc.Sunnyvale, Calif.Information TechnologyMarc Epitaux, Peter Kirkpatrick, Jean-Marc VerdiellGold Hill Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, SVB CapitalIO virtualization and networked flash storage for servers.252007Cofounder Peter Kirkpatrick hails from Intel and CEO Varun Nagaraj led NetContinuum. $31.00
