UCD 5th highest in Europe for producing VC-backed Start-Up Founders
Posted 13 September, 2023
University College Dublin has been ranked fifth in Europe in the latest ranking of universities producing the most entrepreneurs at the undergraduate level.
Pitchbook, a financial data and software company with offices in London, New York, San Francisco and Seattle, has again named (opens in a new window)UCD as Ireland’s number one source of start-up founders who have completed their undergraduate education and gone on to raise VC-funding.
(opens in a new window)According to its 2023 report, there were 189 UCD undergraduate entrepreneurs who established 174 companies – raising over $2.6 billion in funding - in the last 10-years.
This compares to Trinity College, which has had 139 founders - raising $2.2bn – over the last decade, and UCC with 88 founders, who raised nearly a billion, and DCU with 68 founders, who’ve raised $259m.
UCD ranked in 89th on the list globally for 2023, and was the only Irish university in the Top 100.
It is also the only Irish university to place in the European rankings for all three categories: undergraduate (5th), postgraduate (34th) and MBA alumni (12th).
The University of Oxford ranked the best overall university in Europe with 286 undergraduate entrepreneurs who have raised some $8.4 billion in funding.
Meanwhile Stanford University ranked number 1 globally according to the 2023 Report with 1,435 entrepreneurs establishing 1,297 companies backed by $73.5 billion in VC-funding.
PitchBook's annual university rankings compare universities by tallying up the number of alumni entrepreneurs (at undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA levels) who have raised venture capital in the last decade.
The 2023 rankings are based on the total number of founders whose companies received a round of venture funding between 1 January 2013, and 1 September 2023.
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations (with materials from Micéal Whelan, UCD Research and Innovation)
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
