Is immigration Silicon Valley's secret sauce for success? Report says more than half of 'unicorn' startups founded by immigrants

The administration of President Barack Obama created a program to allow international entrepreneurs to come to the US temporarily to work on business ventures, but it didn't provide a route to a more permanent visa to stay in the country. — Project team photo created by tirachardz - www.freepik.com

Silicon Valley prides itself on wunderkind tech founders who generate huge sums of money for their Bay Area companies and, sometimes, change industries virtually overnight.

But while the Silicon Valley reaps much of the praise for the technology and ideas coming out of the region, it's a sector relying on immigrants to lead it. More than half of startups valued at US$1bil (RM4.46bil) or more were founded by immigrants to the United States, according to a report from the nonprofit National Foundation for American Policy.