For the third consecutive year, UC Berkeley leads all universities worldwide in producing venture-backed startups founded by its undergraduate alumni. The 2025 PitchBook university rankings, released on September 15, report that Berkeley alumni have founded 1,650 companies and that 1,804 undergraduate graduates have gone on to become company founders. These figures put Berkeley ahead of institutions such as Stanford University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
PitchBook is a data provider focused on private and public equity markets. Its annual rankings assess universities based on the number of startup founders among their undergraduate alumni who have received initial rounds of venture funding over the past decade.
UC Berkeley also stands out for having more female graduates founding companies than any other university included in PitchBook’s analysis.
Chancellor Rich Lyons commented on the achievement: “The data here are independent confirmation that we’ve built something truly remarkable here at Berkeley. Our comprehensive support for innovation and entrepreneurship is just one aspect of how we consistently challenge the status quo, and a primary reason why Berkeley is, and will remain, one of society’s greatest assets.”
Darren Cooke, interim Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer at Berkeley, added: “The work we’ve done to make Berkeley into a startup leader has been years in the making. Our students are graduating with the skills and resources to not only have great ideas but to also have ideas that others are willing to put money behind to support.”
In addition to these rankings, UC Berkeley recently published “Startup Campus,” a book documenting its history as an institution fostering innovation. The digital edition is available free to students, faculty, and staff. The campus has also launched a website inviting founders from UC Berkeley to share their stories; further events highlighting these entrepreneurial efforts are planned throughout the semester.
Stanford University ranked second overall in this year’s PitchBook report. Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and MIT were also among the top five schools recognized for their role in nurturing student entrepreneurs.
