The University of Pennsylvania has a long history of producing prolific startups and that is reflected in the Ivy League university's improved global rankings for graduating both undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurs. It also ranked among the top schools for generating women founders worldwide.
According to a new report from venture capital data firm Pitchbook, Penn is the No. 3 institution in the world for producing entrepreneurs from its MBA program, which is consistently ranked among the top in the country. It trailed only Harvard University (No. 1) and Stanford University (No. 2) in the category.
The West Philadelphia school had an almost equally high rating for producing undergraduate entrepreneurs, ranking No. 4 globally, behind Stanford (No. 1), University of California, Berkley (No. 2), and Harvard (No. 3).
Penn's graduate programs lagged slightly, ranking at No. 15 in the world for producing successful entrepreneurs.
That was an improvement from Penn's No. 5 ranking for undergraduate founders and No. 6 ranking for its graduate programs last year. Pitchbook's rankings in 2022 did not break out MBA programs separately.
The university had similarly high rankings for producing female founders, ranking No. 3 for its MBA program, No. 4 for undergraduates and No. 11 for producing graduate female founders. The school has produced 403 female founders who have raised a combined $8.5 billion in the last 10 years.
Companies founded by female Penn alums include healthy meal delivery service Daily Harvest, Philadelphia-based biotechnology firm Century Therapeutics and hair care brand Madison Reed.
Collectively, Penn graduates of programs across undergraduate, graduate and MBA programs have raised $86.7 billion in capital over the past decade, one of the key factors Pitchbook took into consideration in its rankings. It also considered the number of alumni entrepreneurs and the number of companies they have founded.
Penn's undergraduate entrepreneur alums total 1,083, with a combined 993 companies and $34 billion in venture capital raised in the past decade. Those figures align closely with MBA graduate founders, which total 1,043. They have a company count of 962 and have raised some $37.7 billion in the last 10 years. Graduate alums make up a more modest portion of the total, with 525 individuals having 473 companies and $15 billion in venture capital raised.
The Ivy League institution was the only school in Greater Philadelphia named to this year's list. Regional schools also making the cut include Princeton University, which ranked No. 13 for undergraduate entrepreneurs and No. 43 for graduate founders; Pennsylvania State University, which placed at No. 36 for undergraduates and No. 74 for graduate alums; and Rutgers University, which ranked No. 68 for undergraduate founders and No. 79 for graduate founders. Both the undergraduate and graduate rankings looked at the top 100 programs worldwide, while the top 50 MBA programs were ranked. No other local school placed in the MBA category.
Penn's continued high rankings should come as no surprise. The school's list of founders is lengthy — 2,651 to be exact, according to Pitchbook. In recent years a slew of new cell and gene therapy and life sciences spinouts, including Spark Therapeutics and Passage Bio, have joined a number of innovative tech and direct-to-consumer startups coming out of the university. Some of the most successful modern startups like Warby Parker, Allbirds and Misfits Market have all come out of Penn.
