According to research from Stanford, startups out of the University of Utah are 3.2 times more likely to achieve unicorn status (billion dollar or more valuation) than average. This significant success rate reflects the strength of our thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem!
Professor at Stanford | Bestselling Author | Innovation | Venture Capital &?Private?Equity
Which universities are most likely to produce a unicorn? Founders of a US startup who studied or worked at the University of Cincinnati are 3.3 times more likely to achieve unicorn status than average. University of Utah – 3.2 times more likely. Yale University and Vanderbilt University – 2 times more likely. Stanford University is at 1.6 times the average, University of California, Berkeley at 1.5. How did we estimate the likelihood of producing a unicorn? We started by identifying the educational and professional background for founders of 1,110 US-based VC-backed unicorns and 1,028 randomly selected VC-backed companies, matched only by the year of the first VC round. 1,081 unicorns and 961 random sample startups have at least one founder who either studied or worked at some university. For example, the University of Cincinnati is associated with 1% of unicorns and 0.3% of random sample companies. The ratio between these percentages is 3.3. We call it the odds ratio of producing a unicorn. Note: This sample included universities that are associated with 10 or more unicorns. A unicorn is associated with a university if it has at least one founder who worked or studied at this university. Thank you to the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Venture Capital Initiative team for spearheading this research.