Most founders outside the US assume the hard part is forming the company. It isn't. The state filing takes days. What slows people down comes afterwards: getting an EIN without a Social Security number, an ITIN application that comes back rejected, a five-figure penalty for a form nobody mentioned, and a bank that won't open an account for a non-resident.
This page collects the numbers behind that gap. Every figure is traced to the organisation that produced it, such as the Census Bureau, the IRS, FinCEN, state filing offices and company filings, and each one is linked and dated. Where a source only covers US businesses in general, we say so rather than stretch it to cover foreign founders.
If you're deciding whether a US company is worth it, start with our guide to how to register a US company from abroad, then come back here for the evidence.
Key Takeaways
- 59% of US billion-dollar startups have at least one immigrant founder (455 of 775 companies) (NFAP, Jun 2026).
- India-born founders started 96 US unicorns, more than any other country of birth (NFAP, Jun 2026).
- Americans filed 531,728 new business applications in August 2026 alone (U.S. Census Bureau, Sep 2026).
- Delaware formed 334,461 new entities in 2025, a rise of more than 15% on 2024 (Delaware Division of Corporations, Jun 2026).
- Florida registered 561,143 new LLCs in 2025, up from 526,475 in 2024 (Florida Division of Corporations, Jul 2026).
- The IRS rejected 28.9% of ITIN applications mailed with original documents in 2023, against 13.6% filed through a Certifying Acceptance Agent (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Dec 2024).
- Missing a Form 5472 costs $25,000 per form, before any continuation penalties (IRS, Dec 2024).
- 74% of automatically assessed international information return penalties were later abated (2018 to 2021 average) (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Jan 2024).
- About 15 million BOI reports were filed by domestic companies before FinCEN exempted them in 2025 (FinCEN, Aug 2026).
- PayPal operates in about 200 markets, but customers can receive payments in only about half of them (PayPal Form 10-K, Feb 2026).
- Sending money across borders still costs an average of 6.36% of the amount sent (World Bank, Sep 2025).
- Only 34.7% of US business establishments opened in March 2015 were still operating ten years later (BLS, Dec 2025).
- Between 17% and 20% of US businesses used AI from December 2025 to May 2026 (U.S. Census Bureau, May 2026).
How Many US Companies Are Formed Each Year?
The US is producing new companies at a pace that would have looked unrealistic before 2020, and most of them are LLCs. For a non-US founder, that volume works in your favour: state filing offices, banks and payment platforms are all set up to process new US entities at scale.
How many business applications are filed in the US each month?
Several hundred thousand. The monthly figure fell 7.8% from July to August 2026, so it moves around, but the base stays very large (U.S. Census Bureau, Sep 2026).
- High-propensity applications, the ones the Census Bureau considers likely to become payroll businesses, totalled 145,387 in August 2026 (U.S. Census Bureau, Sep 2026).
- Only 34,263 applications that month listed a planned date for paying wages (U.S. Census Bureau, Sep 2026).
- 41,075 applications came from corporations (U.S. Census Bureau, Sep 2026).
- The South accounted for 232,595 applications, the largest of the four Census regions (U.S. Census Bureau, Sep 2026).
How many applications actually become businesses?
A small share. The Census Bureau projects 28,501 employer businesses within four quarters from August 2026 applications (U.S. Census Bureau, Sep 2026). Applying is a five-minute form; operating takes a bank account, a tax ID and payment rails.
How many businesses exist in the US?
About 36.4 million employer and nonemployer businesses operated in 2023, with $50.0 trillion in combined receipts (U.S. Census Bureau, Nov 2025).
Are LLCs still the default entity?
Yes. Delaware alone held 1,653,329 LLCs at the end of 2025, out of 2,287,728 total entities (Delaware Division of Corporations, Jun 2026). If you're still choosing, our comparison of LLC vs C corp covers the trade-offs for founders outside the US.
Who Are the Global Founders Building US Companies?
The image of a US founder as an American-born person in Silicon Valley is out of date. A large share of the most valuable US startups were started by people who were born somewhere else, and many of them began as founders or students abroad.
Where were America's immigrant unicorn founders born?
India, Israel and the UK lead. Israel-born founders started 60 US billion-dollar companies and UK-born founders 47 (NFAP, Jun 2026). Founders from India and the UK can see country-specific steps in our guides to forming a US LLC from India and from the United Kingdom.
- Immigrant founders of US unicorns come from 76 countries (NFAP, Jun 2026).
- Pakistan-born founders are behind 10 US billion-dollar companies (NFAP, Jun 2026).
- Nigeria-born founders are behind 7 (NFAP, Jun 2026).
How much are immigrant-founded US companies worth?
About $5.0 trillion combined across the 455 immigrant-founded billion-dollar private companies (NFAP, Jun 2026).
- Immigrant-founded unicorns employ an average of 833 people each (median 400) (NFAP, Jun 2026).
- 24% of US billion-dollar startups (183 of 775) have a founder who first came to the US as an international student (NFAP, Jun 2026).
How many countries do new US startup founders come from?
Stripe Atlas incorporations alone came from 169 countries in 2025, up from 158 in 2024 (Stripe, Dec 2025).
- 56% of Atlas startups are based in the US, so the remaining 44% or so are run from elsewhere (Stripe, Dec 2025).
- European founder incorporations on Atlas grew 48% year over year (Stripe, Dec 2025).
- Among multi-founder Atlas startups, 24% have founders in more than one country (Stripe, Dec 2025).
How much do foreign investors put into new US businesses?
Foreign direct investors spent $232.2 billion to acquire, establish or expand US businesses in 2025, up 49.5% on 2024 (BEA, Jun 2026).
- Spending to establish brand-new US businesses was $4.6 billion (BEA, Jun 2026).
- Planned employment linked to that investment totalled 232,400 jobs (BEA, Jun 2026).
For the practical case behind these numbers, see the 9 benefits of a US company for non-residents.
Which States Do Founders Choose: Delaware, Wyoming or Florida?
Delaware still wins on reputation, Wyoming on running cost, and Florida on raw volume. Which state is right depends on whether you plan to raise venture money or simply need a low-maintenance US entity to bill clients and get paid.
Why is Delaware still the default for startups?
Its legal standing. Over two-thirds of the Fortune 500 are incorporated in Delaware (Delaware Division of Corporations, Jun 2026).
We track Delaware's numbers in more depth on our Delaware business formation statistics page, and compare the two most popular options in Delaware vs Wyoming LLC.
What does it cost to keep a US LLC alive each year?
Anywhere from $60 to $400 a year in state fees, depending on the state. Delaware charges every LLC a flat $400 annual tax, due by June 1 (Delaware Division of Corporations, Oct 2026).
The full state-by-state picture is in our LLC filing fees by state guide and our ranking of the best US states for foreigners to form an LLC.
How big is Florida's business register?
It's one of the largest in the country. Florida had 4,129,182 active entities on file (Florida Division of Corporations, Jul 2026).
Thinking about Florida? Read how to set up an LLC in Florida.
How Long Does It Take a Non-US Founder to Get an EIN and ITIN?
This is where most non-US founders lose weeks. The state filing is quick. Getting the federal tax numbers without a Social Security number is not, and an incomplete ITIN application can push the timeline back by months.
Can a non-resident apply for an EIN online?
No. The IRS online EIN application is only open to applicants with a US legal residence, principal place of business or principal office (IRS, Dec 2025). Founders abroad apply by phone, fax or mail instead.
- An EIN requested by fax generally arrives within 4 business days (IRS, Dec 2025).
- An EIN requested by mail takes about 4 weeks (IRS, Dec 2025).
- The IRS issues no more than one EIN per responsible party per day (IRS, Dec 2025).
- A change of responsible party must be reported to the IRS within 60 days on Form 8822-B (IRS, Dec 2025).
Our walkthrough of how to register an LLC with the IRS covers each route, and if you've lost your EIN confirmation, see our guide to the 147C letter.
How long does an ITIN take?
About seven weeks normally, and 9 to 11 weeks during tax season or if you apply from overseas (IRS, Oct 2025).
- Even without complications, the Taxpayer Advocate puts the wait at seven to 11 weeks (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Dec 2024).
- Since July 2024, the IRS can return identity documents within ten days, down from a previous minimum of seven weeks (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Dec 2024).
How many people apply for ITINs?
More than a million a year. The IRS received an average of 1,264,508 ITIN applications per calendar year from 2018 to 2023 (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Dec 2024).
- Applications made with help from an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center were rejected 19.3% of the time in 2023 (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Dec 2024).
- The IRS may have wrongly deactivated almost 70,000 ITINs since 2021, according to preliminary data (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Dec 2024).
- An ITIN is deactivated if it isn't used on a federal tax return for three consecutive years (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Dec 2024).
- About 3.8 million federal returns included an ITIN in tax year 2022 (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Dec 2024).
How many Certifying Acceptance Agents are there?
Few, and almost all of them are in the US. The IRS had 7,613 US-based CAAs in 2023 (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Dec 2024).
If you need an ITIN, read the benefits of an ITIN and ITIN vs SSN first. StartFleet files the EIN as part of every US company package, with no SSN or ITIN needed.
What Compliance Rules Catch Foreign-Owned US Companies?
The most expensive mistake a non-US founder can make is a missed information return, not missed tax. A single-member LLC with no US income can still owe the IRS a filing every year, and the penalty for skipping it is fixed, large and assessed automatically.
Does a foreign-owned single-member LLC have to file Form 5472?
Yes. A US disregarded entity wholly owned by a foreign person counts as a reporting corporation and must file a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached (IRS, Dec 2024).
- If the failure continues more than 90 days after IRS notice, an extra $25,000 applies for each 30-day period (IRS, Dec 2024).
- A US corporation that is at least 25% foreign-owned is also a reporting corporation (IRS, Dec 2024).
- Transactions with a foreign related party that total $50,000 or less can be reported as "$50,000 or less" rather than as an exact amount (IRS, Dec 2024).
Our checklist of annual compliance requirements for a non-resident-owned US LLC covers every deadline, and how to file taxes as a single-owner LLC explains the return itself.
How often does the IRS penalise late international information returns?
Thousands of times a year. The IRS assessed an average of 10,052 systemic Section 6038 and 6038A penalties per year from 2018 to 2021, worth $390.8 million (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Jan 2024).
- 84% of those penalty dollars were later abated (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Jan 2024).
- Small and midsize businesses with under $10 million in assets received 83% of these systemic penalties (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Jan 2024).
- Entities with under $1 million in assets saw 72% of their penalties abated, compared with 85% for those with $100 million or more (Taxpayer Advocate Service, Jan 2024).
Do foreign-owned US LLCs still have to file a BOI report?
No, not if the company was formed in the US. FinCEN's final rule, effective August 14, 2026, limits BOI reporting to entities formed under foreign law that register to do business in a US state (FinCEN, Aug 2026).
- The Treasury describes the change as relief for "millions" of US business owners (U.S. Treasury, Aug 2026).
- FinCEN now estimates about 28,000 foreign reporting companies in the first year, up from its earlier estimate of 25,000 (FinCEN, Aug 2026).
- It expects about 1,800 new foreign reporting companies each year (FinCEN, Aug 2026).
- Only about 13,000 reports had come in from foreign reporting companies by the end of 2025 (FinCEN, Aug 2026).
- FinCEN values the relief for former domestic reporting companies at about $18 billion (FinCEN, Aug 2026).
If privacy is the concern, see how to keep LLC ownership private. StartFleet's compliance service handles annual state filings so nothing lapses.
How Hard Is It for Non-Residents to Bank and Get Paid in the US?
A US company with no bank account and no payment processor is just a filing. The money side is where non-resident founders most often get stuck, because platforms that let you pay almost anywhere let you receive money in far fewer places.
How many currencies can you actually receive and hold?
Far fewer than you can spend. PayPal customers can send payments in about 140 currencies but withdraw in only 57 (PayPal Form 10-K, Feb 2026).
- PayPal balances can be held in just 24 currencies (PayPal Form 10-K, Feb 2026).
- PayPal had 439 million active accounts at the end of 2025 (PayPal Form 10-K, Feb 2026).
- In January 2026, Stripe added 15 more countries where recipients can receive cross-border payouts, including the UAE, Malaysia and Vietnam (Stripe, Jan 2026).
Founders in markets where Stripe is limited should read accepting online payments with Stripe and, for India specifically, navigating Stripe's changes in India.
How many people worldwide still lack access to financial services?
About 1.3 billion adults (World Bank, Jul 2025).
- Nearly 80% of adults worldwide now have a financial account, up from 50% in 2011 (World Bank, Jul 2025).
- 42% of adults in low- and middle-income countries made a digital merchant payment, up from 35% in 2021 (World Bank, Jul 2025).
Why do e-commerce founders need US banking?
Because US marketplaces are where the sales are. Independent sellers account for more than 60% of sales in Amazon's store (Amazon, Apr 2026).
- More than 75,000 independent sellers passed $1 million in Amazon sales in 2025, up 36% on 2024 (Amazon, Apr 2026).
- US independent sellers averaged more than $375,000 in annual Amazon sales (Amazon, Apr 2026).
Our US business bank account guide for non-residents covers what banks ask for. Every StartFleet package includes two remote US business bank accounts.
How Fast Do New US Companies Start Making Money?
New companies are getting their first revenue faster than they used to. Staying in business is a different question. The founders who succeed are the ones whose banking, payments and compliance are in place before the first invoice goes out.
How quickly do new startups land their first customer?
Faster every year. 20% of Stripe Atlas startups landed a paying customer within 30 days of incorporating in 2025, up from 8% in 2020 (Stripe, Dec 2025).
- Among startups that monetised within three months, median time to first payment fell from 38 to 34 days (Stripe, Dec 2025).
- Startups reaching $100,000 in revenue in their first six months got there in a median 108 days, down from 121 (Stripe, Dec 2025).
- Atlas startups averaged 242 customers in their first six months, up more than 50% on the prior year (Stripe, Dec 2025).
- Only 2.2% of Atlas startups raised funding within three months of incorporating (Stripe, Dec 2025).
Do new companies sell internationally from the start?
Increasingly, yes. In 2025 the median startup sold to customers in two countries in its first six months, up from one in every year from 2017 to 2024 (Stripe, Dec 2025).
How many new businesses survive?
Most survive the first year, and about half are still open after five. 77.9% of establishments opened in March 2024 were still operating a year later (BLS, Dec 2025).
- 51.4% of establishments opened in March 2020 were still operating five years later (BLS, Dec 2025).
Once your company exists, our checklist of what to do after forming an LLC keeps it on track, and StartFleet's partner perks cover many first-year software costs.
What's Next for Global Founders: AI and One-Person Companies?
The next wave of US companies started from abroad will be smaller, more AI-focused and more often run by one person. That suits remote US incorporation well, because a solo founder with a laptop needs a clean entity, a bank account and a payment processor far more than an office.
How many US businesses use AI?
About one in five, with more planning to. Between 20% and 23% of businesses expected to use AI within six months (U.S. Census Bureau, May 2026).
- 39.7% of businesses in the information sector use AI, the highest of any sector (U.S. Census Bureau, May 2026).
- 37% of firms with at least 250 employees use AI (U.S. Census Bureau, May 2026).
- Fewer than 20% of firms with four or fewer employees reported using AI (U.S. Census Bureau, May 2026).
How many new founders are building AI companies?
A large share. 42% of Stripe Atlas founders were building AI startups in 2025, up from 15% in January 2023 (Stripe, Dec 2025).
- 22% of Atlas LLCs now identify as AI companies, up from 5% in January 2023 (Stripe, Dec 2025).
- 44% of Atlas startups building AI infrastructure, copilots or agents are building agents, up from 27% in 2024 (Stripe, Dec 2025).
Are one-person businesses growing faster than employers?
Yes. Nonemployer businesses grew by an average of 2.7% a year from 2012 to 2023, against 1.1% for employer businesses (U.S. Census Bureau, Jul 2025).
- Nonemployers generated about $1.8 trillion in 2023, roughly 6.4% of US GDP (U.S. Census Bureau, Jul 2025).
- The employer share of all US businesses fell from 24.6% to 21.6% between 2012 and 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau, Jul 2025).
For more on where remote and AI-native work is heading, see our remote work statistics and highest-paying AI jobs.
Glossary
- ABS: Annual Business Survey, the Census Bureau's survey of business owner characteristics.
- BFS: Business Formation Statistics, the Census Bureau's monthly count of EIN applications for new businesses.
- BOI: Beneficial ownership information, the ownership details FinCEN collects under the Corporate Transparency Act.
- BTOS: Business Trends and Outlook Survey, a Census Bureau survey run every two weeks.
- CAA: Certifying Acceptance Agent, a person or firm the IRS authorises to verify identity documents for ITIN applications.
- CTA: Corporate Transparency Act.
- Disregarded entity: a single-member LLC that the IRS ignores for income tax purposes; if foreign-owned, it still files Form 5472.
- EIN: Employer Identification Number, the federal tax ID for a business.
- FinCEN: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau of the US Treasury.
- ITIN: Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, issued to people who need a US tax ID but can't get a Social Security number.
- LLC: Limited liability company. New to the structure? Start with what is an LLC.
- Nonemployer business: a business with no paid employees, usually run by its owner alone.
- Unicorn: a privately held startup valued at $1 billion or more.
Methodology and Sources
We only include statistics from the organisation that produced the data: government agencies, regulators, company filings and original research. We don't cite roundups or other statistics pages, and when a figure could only be found in an aggregator, we left it out. We checked every link against its source page in October 2026. Stats that come from live fee schedules or rule pages are dated to the month we checked them. Where a source covers US businesses in general rather than foreign-owned companies specifically, the text says so. All charts were drawn by StartFleet from the figures each source published. We update this page monthly as new Census, IRS, FinCEN and state releases come out.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics, August 2026
- U.S. Census Bureau, Census Bureau Releases New Data About Characteristics of Employer and Nonemployer Business Owners
- U.S. Census Bureau, Number of U.S. Nonemployers Grew Faster Than Employer Businesses Nearly Every Year From 2012 to 2023
- U.S. Census Bureau, Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users
- Delaware Division of Corporations, 2025 Annual Report
- Delaware Division of Corporations, LLC/LP/GP Annual Tax Instructions
- Florida Division of Corporations, Yearly Statistics
- Florida Division of Corporations, Fees
- Florida Department of State, Annual Report Deadline Reminder, April 2026
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division Filing Fee Schedule
- National Foundation for American Policy, Immigrants and U.S. Billion-Dollar Companies
- Stripe, Stripe Atlas Startups in 2025: Year in Review
- Stripe, Global Payouts Adds Support for 15 New Countries
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 2025
- Taxpayer Advocate Service, Annual Report to Congress 2024: ITIN Processing
- Taxpayer Advocate Service, Annual Report to Congress 2023: International Information Return Penalties
- IRS, Instructions for Form 5472
- IRS, Instructions for Form SS-4
- IRS, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
- FinCEN, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision (Federal Register)
- FinCEN, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting
- U.S. Treasury, FinCEN Permanently Ends Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements for Millions of Small Business Owners
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics, Survival of Private Sector Establishments by Opening Year
- PayPal Holdings, Form 10-K for Fiscal Year 2025
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide
- World Bank, Global Findex 2025: Mobile-Phone Technology Powers Saving Surge in Developing Economies
- Amazon, 2025 Small Business Empowerment Report
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