UC Berkeley ranked No. 1 for generating startup founders, companies and female entrepreneurs  

UC Berkeley graduates have founded more venture-backed companies than undergraduate alumni from any other university in the world, according to the 2024 PitchBook university rankings. 

The data released Friday (Aug. 30) also shows that Berkeley took the top spot for the number of undergraduate alumni who have founded companies. In addition to significantly widening its advantage, the report reveals that women who graduated from Berkeley are a growing force in the startup landscape. Berkeley was ranked first for female graduates who started businesses, first for female-founded companies and first for the amount of capital raised by women. 

“When combined with our commitment to providing long-term societal benefit, this ethos of constantly and constructively questioning the status quo results in ideas that transform industries in support of the greater good,” said Chancellor Rich Lyons, the campus’s former head of innovation and entrepreneurship. “Venture capital is clearly paying attention to Berkeley-generated companies. And we’re just getting started.”

Neil Freese/UC Berkeley

PitchBook, a data provider for private and public equity markets, annually ranks the world’s best universities for producing startup founders. This year’s report reveals that Berkeley undergraduate alumni account for the most founders (1,811) and most new companies (1,642) of any public or private school in the world. 

Additionally, the report shows that 283 female graduates have founded 281 companies and raised some $7 billion — all metrics that ranked first in the world. 

Part of Berkeley’s dominance in this year’s rankings is due to campus leaders shoring up their connections and alumni updating their records. That more detailed information about the success of graduates highlights the engaged alumni community’s positive impact in the world, said Laura Hassner, executive director of UC Berkeley Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Berkeley Changemaker.

“That UC Berkeley is No. 1 globally across five major categories, including three for female founders, shows how Berkeley continues to light the way, and we do so inclusively,” Hassner said.

With 264 fewer founders and 245 fewer companies, Stanford University came in second in the overall rankings, which evaluate startups that received a first round of venture funding in the past 10 years. Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology rounded out the top five.

Last year’s rankings put Berkeley as the top public university for producing startup founders for the sixth straight year. 

“The data demonstrates that our undergraduates are founding the kind of companies that venture capitalists are backing,” said Darren Cooke, Berkeley’s interim Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer. “And they are doing so at a scale unrivaled by any other university, public or private.”