Successful Young Migrant Entrepreneurs boost Dutch and UK Economy

A study by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) found that immigrants are far more likely to be entrepreneurial than people born and brought up in the UK… Three times as much in fact. Figures from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce show that one in five starters was not born in the Netherlands.

UK Stats

A new analysis from Zirra reports that, of the UK’s top 10 unicorn (valued at $1bn or more) businesses such as Shazam and Funding Circle, in nine out of the 10 businesses there is at least one immigrant or a child born to first-generation immigrants in the founding team.

Studies and analysis aside (e.g. Startups.co) shows that there are a vast number of incredibly inspiring immigrants who have moved to the UK to set up and build businesses which have driven economic growth and supported job creation.

In nine out of the 10 businesses there is at least one immigrant or a child born to first-generation immigrants in the founding team.

Zirra

In previous years, we’ve tracked the success of business moguls like London’s deputy mayor Rajesh Agrawal, the Indian immigrant who founded £1.3bn foreign exchange company RationalFX back in 2005, alongside Australian-born Alicia Navarro and her international multi-million pound affiliate marketing agency Skimlinks. So What about start-up founders? Last month we profiled London Junk founder Harsha Rathnayake and shared his rousing story of coming to the UK when he was 18 and not being able to speak any English. He would go on to learn English fluently – self-taught – and, with just £160 from his life savings, start a business that now employs 10 people and is on target to hit £1m turnover.

Immigrant Entrepreneurship does not harm Dutch Economy at all

The share of entrepreneurs who were not born in the Netherlands rose last year by a percentage point to 16 percent, ie one in six. Almost a quarter of the starters were not born in the Netherlands. Most have a business in the hospitality, logistics and construction industries. Many starting migrant entrepreneurs are located in the provinces of North and South Holland and Flevoland.

Figures from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce for 2015 show that one in five starters was not born in the Netherlands. Notable risers: entrepreneurs from Syria and Iraq. Immigrant entrepreneurship does not do the Netherlands any harm. The report The Economic Value of Ethnic Entrepreneurship shows that more than 600,000 people work in the companies of these alleged entrepreneurs. The gross added value of these companies amounts to more than 37 billion euros. Watch this great example of successful young Dutch entrepreneur:

Watch this iFly Magazine video about Omar Munie who fled from Somalia to the Netherlands with his brothers when he was just nine years old. Now, 18 years on, he is one of Holland’s most popular bag designers, and his hand-made products are sold throughout the world. One of Omar’s latest projects involves a partnership with KLM, designing a limited edition series of bags made from former KLM uniforms.

Another successful Entrepreneur is Hien Kieu. The director of Kieu Engineering from Sprang-Capelle tells how he left Vietnam in a boat with his parents’ savings as a fourteen-year-old boy. How he was one of the few immigrants to end up in a village in Brabant. Lts went without even speaking a word of Dutch. And how one teacher at that school believed in him. “I will never forget it. He asked the class: Do you know which one of your engineers will be? He is. That little Hien. “The teacher was right. And after lts, mts and hts ’that little Hien’ started in 1998 with Kieu Engineering for himself. This has now grown into a large company with seventy employees in the Netherlands and Vietnam, specialized in product development for machine construction. With clients such as Nedtrain, Tata Steel and Philips. When he opened his branch in Vietnam more than ten years ago, it was pioneering. “This was something completely new. We do not outsource production, but the labor-intensive CAD drawing work. Not only for ourselves, but also for our customers. “It was a leap of faith, but now it is starting to pay off, says Kieu. “The knowledge remains in the Netherlands. This gives our customers more time for innovation, which is good for the Netherlands, for example. “