PitchBook University Rankings: Graduate Founders 2025
PitchBook University Rankings: Graduate Founders 2025 by PitchBook: 100 universities ranked, led by Stanford University. Full list with movement since the last...
- Publisher
- PitchBook
- Published
- September 2025
- On this page
- 100 of 101 ranked
- Method
- Data
- Reliability
- Grade B
Stanford led with 4,287 graduate founders, ahead of Harvard (3,842) and MIT (2,859). Cambridge (7th) and Oxford (8th) were the top non-US schools.
The full list
| Rank | Name | Since 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford UniversityFounders: 4,287 · Companies: 3,286 · Capital raised usd bn: 242.6 | No change |
| 2 | Harvard UniversityFounders: 3,842 · Companies: 3,242 · Capital raised usd bn: 222.8 | No change |
| 3 | MITFounders: 2,859 · Companies: 2,233 · Capital raised usd bn: 137.3 | New |
| 4 | Columbia UniversityFounders: 1,920 · Companies: 1,701 · Capital raised usd bn: 61.2 | No change |
| 5 | UC BerkeleyFounders: 1,893 · Companies: 1,577 · Capital raised usd bn: 129.4 | New |
| 6 | University of PennsylvaniaFounders: 1,776 · Companies: 1,551 · Capital raised usd bn: 62.1 | No change |
| 7 | University of CambridgeFounders: 1,488 · Companies: 1,243 · Capital raised usd bn: 44 | No change |
| 8 | University of OxfordFounders: 1,410 · Companies: 1,171 · Capital raised usd bn: 45.1 | No change |
| 9 | Northwestern UniversityFounders: 1,299 · Companies: 1,153 · Capital raised usd bn: 34.9 | No change |
| 10 | New York UniversityFounders: 1,088 · Companies: 1,016 · Capital raised usd bn: 87.6 | No change |
| 11 | University of ChicagoFounders: 1,033 · Companies: 905 · Capital raised usd bn: 32.3 | No change |
| 12 | UCLAFounders: 1,022 · Companies: 881 · Capital raised usd bn: 29.9 | New |
| 13 | INSEADFounders: 953 · Companies: 882 · Capital raised usd bn: 21.9 | No change |
| 14 | Tel Aviv UniversityFounders: 929 · Companies: 741 · Capital raised usd bn: 19.7 | No change |
| 15 | Imperial College LondonFounders: 897 · Companies: 748 · Capital raised usd bn: 14.4 | Up 2 |
| =16 | Cornell UniversityFounders: 891 · Companies: 767 · Capital raised usd bn: 32.6 | No change |
| =16 | Carnegie Mellon UniversityFounders: 891 · Companies: 741 · Capital raised usd bn: 29.5 | Down 1 |
| 18 | HEC ParisFounders: 826 · Companies: 736 · Capital raised usd bn: 13.9 | Up 6 |
| 19 | USCFounders: 820 · Companies: 722 · Capital raised usd bn: 32.2 | New |
| 20 | University of Texas, AustinFounders: 818 · Companies: 716 · Capital raised usd bn: 25.3 | New |
| 21 | University of Michigan, Ann ArborFounders: 813 · Companies: 687 · Capital raised usd bn: 28.6 | New |
| 22 | Johns Hopkins UniversityFounders: 711 · Companies: 610 · Capital raised usd bn: 28.2 | Down 1 |
| 23 | Tsinghua UniversityFounders: 697 · Companies: 639 · Capital raised usd bn: 39.8 | No change |
| 24 | Yale UniversityFounders: 680 · Companies: 575 · Capital raised usd bn: 30.2 | Down 2 |
| 25 | University of TorontoFounders: 649 · Companies: 514 · Capital raised usd bn: 80.4 | Up 3 |
| 26 | London Business SchoolFounders: 619 · Companies: 569 · Capital raised usd bn: 14 | Up 1 |
| 27 | University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignFounders: 618 · Companies: 499 · Capital raised usd bn: 19.6 | New |
| 28 | London School of EconomicsFounders: 599 · Companies: 573 · Capital raised usd bn: 13.3 | Down 2 |
| 29 | Duke UniversityFounders: 573 · Companies: 494 · Capital raised usd bn: 18 | No change |
| 30 | Technion - Israel Institute of TechnologyFounders: 558 · Companies: 418 · Capital raised usd bn: 16.6 | Up 7 |
| 31 | Georgia Institute of TechnologyFounders: 542 · Companies: 462 · Capital raised usd bn: 33.3 | Down 1 |
| 32 | ETH ZurichFounders: 537 · Companies: 379 · Capital raised usd bn: 7.5 | No change |
| =33 | Boston UniversityFounders: 478 · Companies: 429 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.1 | Down 1 |
| =33 | University of Washington, SeattleFounders: 478 · Companies: 393 · Capital raised usd bn: 12.6 | New |
| 35 | Hebrew UniversityFounders: 435 · Companies: 331 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.5 | Down 1 |
| 36 | University of Wisconsin, MadisonFounders: 419 · Companies: 346 · Capital raised usd bn: 14.4 | New |
| 37 | UC San DiegoFounders: 404 · Companies: 327 · Capital raised usd bn: 13.9 | New |
| 38 | University of Maryland, College ParkFounders: 364 · Companies: 318 · Capital raised usd bn: 11 | New |
| 39 | Georgetown UniversityFounders: 356 · Companies: 333 · Capital raised usd bn: 6.7 | Up 2 |
| 40 | Technical University of MunichFounders: 346 · Companies: 278 · Capital raised usd bn: 7.3 | Up 9 |
| 41 | University of Minnesota, Twin CitiesFounders: 344 · Companies: 281 · Capital raised usd bn: 14.8 | New |
| 42 | University of VirginiaFounders: 343 · Companies: 308 · Capital raised usd bn: 12.1 | Down 2 |
| 43 | University College LondonFounders: 337 · Companies: 293 · Capital raised usd bn: 7.4 | Up 13 |
| 44 | IE UniversityFounders: 336 · Companies: 300 · Capital raised usd bn: 7 | Down 2 |
| 45 | ESADEFounders: 330 · Companies: 307 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.2 | Down 1 |
| 46 | University of Colorado, BoulderFounders: 327 · Companies: 281 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.8 | New |
| 47 | Peking UniversityFounders: 326 · Companies: 315 · Capital raised usd bn: 17.2 | Up 1 |
| 48 | McGill UniversityFounders: 318 · Companies: 270 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.2 | Up 4 |
| 49 | Arizona State University, TempeFounders: 317 · Companies: 286 · Capital raised usd bn: 7.6 | New |
| =50 | Delft University of TechnologyFounders: 314 · Companies: 256 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.5 | Up 3 |
| =50 | Purdue UniversityFounders: 314 · Companies: 267 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.8 | Down 4 |
| 52 | National University of SingaporeFounders: 312 · Companies: 289 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.4 | Down 3 |
| =53 | University of British ColumbiaFounders: 308 · Companies: 263 · Capital raised usd bn: 65.6 | No change |
| =53 | University of Florida, GainesvilleFounders: 308 · Companies: 261 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.7 | New |
| 55 | UNC Chapel HillFounders: 297 · Companies: 271 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.5 | New |
| 56 | Lund UniversityFounders: 294 · Companies: 231 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.5 | Down 9 |
| 57 | CaltechFounders: 291 · Companies: 235 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.3 | New |
| 58 | Seoul National UniversityFounders: 283 · Companies: 211 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.2 | Up 9 |
| 59 | Ohio State UniversityFounders: 282 · Companies: 245 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.7 | Down 1 |
| 60 | Washington UniversityFounders: 280 · Companies: 232 · Capital raised usd bn: 13.7 | Down 1 |
| 61 | Copenhagen Business SchoolFounders: 276 · Companies: 252 · Capital raised usd bn: 3 | Down 4 |
| 62 | IIT BombayFounders: 267 · Companies: 237 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.6 | New |
| 63 | University of Edinburgh, ScotlandFounders: 266 · Companies: 240 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.8 | Down 1 |
| 64 | George Washington UniversityFounders: 264 · Companies: 253 · Capital raised usd bn: 6.8 | Down 4 |
| 65 | Princeton UniversityFounders: 261 · Companies: 223 · Capital raised usd bn: 37.4 | Down 1 |
| =66 | Technical University of DenmarkFounders: 255 · Companies: 183 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.9 | No change |
| =66 | University of TokyoFounders: 255 · Companies: 203 · Capital raised usd bn: 7.4 | Up 5 |
| 68 | Babson CollegeFounders: 252 · Companies: 235 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.3 | Down 7 |
| 69 | KU LeuvenFounders: 247 · Companies: 190 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.6 | New |
| 70 | University of CopenhagenFounders: 236 · Companies: 182 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.8 | Down 2 |
| 71 | Dartmouth CollegeFounders: 231 · Companies: 220 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.1 | Down 3 |
| 72 | Penn State UniversityFounders: 230 · Companies: 210 · Capital raised usd bn: 6.7 | New |
| 73 | University of AmsterdamFounders: 227 · Companies: 205 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.4 | Up 15 |
| 74 | Indiana University, BloomingtonFounders: 224 · Companies: 205 · Capital raised usd bn: 5 | New |
| 75 | University of WaterlooFounders: 220 · Companies: 167 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.3 | Up 21 |
| =76 | Bocconi UniversityFounders: 218 · Companies: 208 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.8 | Up 5 |
| =76 | Erasmus University RotterdamFounders: 218 · Companies: 199 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.8 | Down 4 |
| =76 | ESSEC Business SchoolFounders: 218 · Companies: 210 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.6 | Up 17 |
| 79 | Northeastern UniversityFounders: 217 · Companies: 202 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.8 | Up 1 |
| =80 | Ben Gurion UniversityFounders: 215 · Companies: 173 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.4 | Up 2 |
| =80 | Vanderbilt UniversityFounders: 215 · Companies: 183 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.2 | Down 5 |
| =80 | ESCP EuropeFounders: 215 · Companies: 204 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.8 | Down 3 |
| 83 | Stockholm School of EconomicsFounders: 213 · Companies: 186 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.8 | Up 1 |
| 84 | Chalmers University of TechnologyFounders: 212 · Companies: 158 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.8 | Up 5 |
| 85 | KTH Royal Institute of TechnologyFounders: 211 · Companies: 182 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.7 | Down 13 |
| 86 | Ecole PolytechniqueFounders: 210 · Companies: 191 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.9 | Up 13 |
| =87 | Chinese Academy of SciencesFounders: 209 · Companies: 199 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.3 | New |
| =87 | UC DavisFounders: 209 · Companies: 184 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.7 | New |
| 89 | Bar-Ilan UniversityFounders: 207 · Companies: 183 · Capital raised usd bn: 6.3 | Down 12 |
| 90 | Fudan UniversityFounders: 206 · Companies: 197 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.1 | Up 6 |
| 91 | Indian School of Business (ISB)Founders: 204 · Companies: 184 · Capital raised usd bn: 6.3 | Down 6 |
| 92 | Weizmann Institute of ScienceFounders: 203 · Companies: 162 · Capital raised usd bn: 5.7 | Up 7 |
| 93 | Texas A&M UniversityFounders: 202 · Companies: 186 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.2 | Down 10 |
| 94 | Emory UniversityFounders: 195 · Companies: 172 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.6 | Down 4 |
| 95 | Uppsala UniversityFounders: 192 · Companies: 153 · Capital raised usd bn: 1.9 | Down 9 |
| 96 | Rutgers UniversityFounders: 189 · Companies: 171 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.3 | Down 5 |
| 97 | University of WarwickFounders: 188 · Companies: 182 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.7 | Down 2 |
| =98 | University of MassachusettsFounders: 186 · Companies: 168 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.8 | New |
| =98 | University of PittsburghFounders: 186 · Companies: 158 · Capital raised usd bn: 2.9 | Down 12 |
| =98 | University of Western OntarioFounders: 186 · Companies: 170 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.3 | New |
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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