PitchBook University Rankings: Female Founders 2026
PitchBook University Rankings: Female Founders 2026 by PitchBook: 50 universities ranked, led by University of California, Berkeley. Full list with movement...
- Publisher
- PitchBook
- Published
- September 1, 2026
- On this page
- 50 of 50 ranked
- Method
- Data
- Reliability
- Grade B
UC Berkeley led with 345 female undergraduate founders, ahead of Stanford (307) and Harvard (274). Cornell moved ahead of Penn into 4th.
The full list
| Rank | Name | Since 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California, BerkeleyFounders: 345 · Companies: 342 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.2 | No change |
| 2 | Stanford UniversityFounders: 307 · Companies: 296 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.8 | No change |
| 3 | Harvard UniversityFounders: 274 · Companies: 265 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.6 | No change |
| 4 | Cornell UniversityFounders: 254 · Companies: 244 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.3 | Up 1 |
| 5 | University of PennsylvaniaFounders: 229 · Companies: 222 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.9 | Down 1 |
| 6 | New York UniversityFounders: 180 · Companies: 177 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.2 | Up 1 |
| 7 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Founders: 178 · Companies: 176 · Capital raised usd bn: 6 | Down 1 |
| 8 | Columbia UniversityFounders: 153 · Companies: 150 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.4 | No change |
| 9 | Yale UniversityFounders: 145 · Companies: 144 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.1 | Up 3 |
| 10 | Princeton UniversityFounders: 142 · Companies: 136 · Capital raised usd bn: 7 | Down 1 |
| =11 | University of WaterlooFounders: 135 · Companies: 129 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.2 | Up 22 |
| =11 | University of Texas, AustinFounders: 135 · Companies: 131 · Capital raised usd bn: 3 | New |
| 13 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)Founders: 130 · Companies: 129 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.7 | Down 4 |
| 14 | University of Michigan, Ann ArborFounders: 129 · Companies: 124 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.5 | Down 3 |
| 15 | Brown UniversityFounders: 127 · Companies: 127 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.8 | Down 1 |
| 16 | Northwestern UniversityFounders: 120 · Companies: 117 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.8 | Down 3 |
| 17 | University of TorontoFounders: 110 · Companies: 106 · Capital raised usd bn: 1 | Down 2 |
| 18 | Duke UniversityFounders: 109 · Companies: 108 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.1 | Down 2 |
| 19 | University of Southern California (USC)Founders: 107 · Companies: 107 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.4 | No change |
| 20 | McGill UniversityFounders: 103 · Companies: 102 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.6 | Down 3 |
| 21 | University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignFounders: 98 · Companies: 95 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.2 | Down 3 |
| 22 | Boston UniversityFounders: 94 · Companies: 92 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.7 | Down 1 |
| 23 | Western UniversityFounders: 92 · Companies: 83 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.3 | New |
| 24 | Tel Aviv UniversityFounders: 90 · Companies: 87 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.2 | Down 3 |
| 25 | University of Wisconsin, MadisonFounders: 88 · Companies: 87 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.2 | Up 5 |
| 26 | University of North Carolina, Chapel HillFounders: 86 · Companies: 85 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.2 | Down 6 |
| 27 | Georgetown UniversityFounders: 83 · Companies: 82 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.7 | Down 2 |
| 28 | Dartmouth CollegeFounders: 82 · Companies: 81 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.3 | Down 5 |
| 29 | University of Virginia, CharlottesvilleFounders: 81 · Companies: 79 · Capital raised usd bn: 1 | Down 4 |
| 30 | University of Colorado, BoulderFounders: 80 · Companies: 78 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.2 | Down 6 |
| =31 | National University of SingaporeFounders: 79 · Companies: 76 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.3 | Down 3 |
| =31 | Vanderbilt UniversityFounders: 79 · Companies: 79 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.7 | Up 8 |
| 33 | University of Washington, SeattleFounders: 76 · Companies: 75 · Capital raised usd bn: 183.6 | Down 3 |
| 34 | Peking UniversityFounders: 69 · Companies: 68 · Capital raised usd bn: 26.6 | Down 9 |
| 35 | Delhi University, IndiaFounders: 67 · Companies: 67 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.9 | Up 3 |
| =36 | University of California, San DiegoFounders: 66 · Companies: 66 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.7 | Down 4 |
| =36 | University of British ColumbiaFounders: 66 · Companies: 65 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.584 | Up 3 |
| =38 | University of OxfordFounders: 64 · Companies: 63 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.905 | Down 4 |
| =38 | University of ChicagoFounders: 64 · Companies: 60 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.709 | Down 3 |
| =40 | Technion - Israel Institute of TechnologyFounders: 61 · Companies: 61 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.957 | Up 3 |
| =40 | Carnegie Mellon UniversityFounders: 61 · Companies: 60 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.4 | Down 5 |
| =42 | Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)Founders: 58 · Companies: 58 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.7 | Down 3 |
| =42 | Indiana University, BloomingtonFounders: 58 · Companies: 57 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.663 | New |
| =44 | Monash UniversityFounders: 56 · Companies: 55 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.897 | Up 5 |
| =44 | University of SydneyFounders: 56 · Companies: 55 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.656 | Up 3 |
| 46 | Wellesley CollegeFounders: 55 · Companies: 54 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.2 | Down 4 |
| 47 | Tsinghua UniversityFounders: 54 · Companies: 52 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.7 | Down 4 |
| =48 | Tufts UniversityFounders: 53 · Companies: 52 · Capital raised usd bn: 2 | Down 11 |
| =48 | Washington UniversityFounders: 53 · Companies: 53 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.654 | New |
| =48 | University of Florida, GainesvilleFounders: 53 · Companies: 53 · Capital raised usd bn: 0.891 | Down 3 |
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
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