PitchBook University Rankings: European Universities 2026
PitchBook University Rankings: European Universities 2026 by PitchBook: 51 universities ranked, led by University of Oxford. Full list with movement since the...
- Publisher
- PitchBook
- Published
- September 1, 2026
- On this page
- 51 of 51 ranked
- Method
- Data
- Reliability
- Grade B
Oxford (422 founders) and Cambridge (405) led the European undergraduate list, followed by Trinity College Dublin, LSE and Imperial. PitchBook corrected IESE founder data on Sep. 17, 2026.
The full list
| Rank | Name | Since 2015-2016 Edition |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of OxfordFounders: 422 · Companies: 405 · Capital raised usd bn: 19.9 | |
| 2 | University of CambridgeFounders: 405 · Companies: 388 · Capital raised usd bn: 20.6 | |
| 3 | Trinity College DublinFounders: 334 · Companies: 310 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.2 | |
| 4 | London School of EconomicsFounders: 296 · Companies: 284 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.7 | |
| 5 | Imperial College LondonFounders: 284 · Companies: 271 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.4 | |
| 6 | Copenhagen Business SchoolFounders: 260 · Companies: 235 · Capital raised usd bn: 8 | |
| 7 | University College DublinFounders: 242 · Companies: 225 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.8 | |
| 8 | University College LondonFounders: 238 · Companies: 229 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.2 | |
| 9 | University of NottinghamFounders: 232 · Companies: 227 · Capital raised usd bn: 6.3 | |
| 10 | University of LeedsFounders: 229 · Companies: 224 · Capital raised usd bn: 6.5 | |
| 11 | King's College LondonFounders: 227 · Companies: 222 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.4 | |
| 12 | University of LondonFounders: 219 · Companies: 217 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.1 | |
| 13 | University of WarwickFounders: 217 · Companies: 207 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.9 | |
| 14 | University of BristolFounders: 195 · Companies: 189 · Capital raised usd bn: 6.9 | |
| 15 | Bocconi UniversityFounders: 188 · Companies: 179 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.6 | |
| 16 | Durham UniversityFounders: 186 · Companies: 183 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.5 | |
| 17 | Technical University of MunichFounders: 174 · Companies: 151 · Capital raised usd bn: 8 | |
| 18 | University of Manchester InstituteFounders: 173 · Companies: 170 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.3 | |
| 19 | University of BathFounders: 141 · Companies: 137 · Capital raised usd bn: 13.5 | |
| =20 | University of BirminghamFounders: 126 · Companies: 124 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.5 | |
| =20 | Delft University of TechnologyFounders: 126 · Companies: 109 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.756 | |
| =22 | Erasmus University RotterdamFounders: 120 · Companies: 112 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.6 | |
| =22 | Lund UniversityFounders: 120 · Companies: 111 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.7 | |
| =22 | University of SouthamptonFounders: 120 · Companies: 119 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.9 | |
| 25 | Stockholm School of EconomicsFounders: 118 · Companies: 111 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.6 | |
| 26 | ETH ZurichFounders: 112 · Companies: 101 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.4 | |
| 27 | University of AmsterdamFounders: 111 · Companies: 103 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.3 | |
| =28 | Stockholm UniversityFounders: 109 · Companies: 103 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.4 | |
| =28 | Open UniversityFounders: 109 · Companies: 104 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.3 | |
| 30 | University College CorkFounders: 107 · Companies: 98 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.3 | |
| 31 | University of Edinburgh, ScotlandFounders: 105 · Companies: 103 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.8 | |
| 32 | University of SheffieldFounders: 103 · Companies: 98 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.5 | |
| 33 | University of ExeterFounders: 100 · Companies: 98 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.2 | |
| 34 | Maastricht UniversityFounders: 96 · Companies: 86 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.7 | |
| 35 | Cardiff UniversityFounders: 94 · Companies: 88 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.4 | |
| =36 | Dublin City UniversityFounders: 93 · Companies: 88 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.829 | |
| =36 | Aarhus UniversityFounders: 93 · Companies: 88 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.697 | |
| =38 | University of LimerickFounders: 91 · Companies: 88 · Capital raised usd bn: 1 | |
| =38 | University of CopenhagenFounders: 91 · Companies: 88 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.9 | |
| =40 | Loughborough UniversityFounders: 89 · Companies: 87 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.945 | |
| =40 | ESADEFounders: 89 · Companies: 84 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.8 | |
| =42 | Aalto UniversityFounders: 87 · Companies: 74 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.5 | |
| =42 | Technical University of DenmarkFounders: 87 · Companies: 80 · Capital raised usd bn: 1 | |
| 44 | University of SussexFounders: 86 · Companies: 83 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.768 | |
| 45 | Politecnico di MilanoFounders: 85 · Companies: 76 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.575 | |
| 46 | University of WestminsterFounders: 79 · Companies: 77 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.6 | |
| =47 | Middlesex UniversityFounders: 77 · Companies: 77 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.704 | |
| =47 | Chalmers University of TechnologyFounders: 77 · Companies: 62 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.615 | |
| =49 | University of LiverpoolFounders: 75 · Companies: 74 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.8 | |
| =49 | Lancaster UniversityFounders: 75 · Companies: 72 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.3 | |
| =49 | University of St. GallenFounders: 75 · Companies: 68 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.8 |
This list is reproduced as PitchBook published it, from a secondary source. Names are shown as printed. The ranking belongs to its publisher.
Sources and known limits
A reviewed date is not available for this page.