CMU ranks high in PitchBook’s list of top 100 universities for startup founders

According to PitchBook’s 2022 list of the top 100 universities for startups founders, CMU can claim being ranked in the top 30 across four categories. It follows recent lists made including being named #22 by US News for best national universities, and #28 in the world by Times Higher Education.

“Great entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, but some universities have a truly exceptional track record of producing future entrepreneurs,” PitchBook said. With spinouts and other Pittsburgh-founded companies such as RoadBotics, Bloomfield Robotics and Carmell Therapeutics, CMU is certainly one of them.

PitchBook ranks universities by how many founders’ companies received a first round of venture funding between Jan. 1, 20122 and Oct. 21, 2022. According to PitchBook, these lists are curated to determine “which colleges have the best track record in producing entrepreneurs.” (Worth noting: Not all entrepreneurs raise VC.)

See the rankings

While Ivy League universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Yale and Penn comfortably secured the top 10 positions on the undergraduate category of the list, CMU managed to outrank well-known institutions such as Dartmouth College, Northwestern University and Oxford University across the pond. Closer to home, it ranked several spots above Penn State.

Here’s how CMU measured up in each area:

• In the undergraduate category, CMU ranked #22. Founders who attended the university were found to have raised $19.5 billion among 480 founders for 427 companies.
• CMU was named #13 among graduate schools, with 764 founders who’ve raised $36.5 billion across 626 companies.
• It ranked #30 on PitchBook list of best schools for undergraduate female founders, with 49 founders who raised $2 billion over 48 startups.
• And for graduate school female founders, the university secured the #18 position with 79 founders who’d raised $1.1 billion across 73 companies.

University of Pittsburgh didn’t rank in the undergraduate category, but was named #73 among graduate schools, with $3.1 billion raised across 153 companies by 180 founders.

Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.