Undergraduate Studies at Tel Aviv University Boost Unicorn Founder Odds by 260%

A study published by Prof. Ilya Strebulaev of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business finds that undergraduate studies at Tel Aviv University increase the likelihood of becoming a founder of a unicorn company by 260% - the highest rate among all universities included in the study, which also examined leading U.S. institutions.

As part of the study published last week, Prof. Strebulaev, entrepreneurship researcher from Stanford University’s examined the impact of leading academic institutions on the success prospects of entrepreneurs who founded venture capital–backed companies.

The study is based on data from 2,781 founders of U.S. based unicorn companies, alongside 2,188 founders of venture capital–backed companies, randomly selected for comparison. The comparison group was matched by the year of the company’s first venture capital round, to enable an accurate comparison between the groups.

Alongside Tel Aviv University, the top tier of the index includes leading American universities. Undergraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) increase the odds of becoming a unicorn founder by 90%, while Stanford University and Yale University show an increase of 60%, and the University of California, Berkeley, and Cornell University show an increase of 30%. In terms of the absolute number of unicorn founders, Stanford University ranks first, with 139 founders, representing 5.0% of the total sample.

Tel Aviv University, the only institution outside the United States included in this index, ranks eighth among the world’s top ten universities in producing unicorn founders, immediately after Princeton University and ahead of the University of Washington, and stands out with the highest relative advantage of a 260% increase in its graduates’ likelihood of founding a successful unicorn.

The accompanying chart presents the top ten universities, ranked by the number of unicorn founders who earned their undergraduate degree at each institution.

Credit: Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Venture Capital Initiative

Prof. Moshe Zviran, TAU’s Chief Entrepreneurship and Innovation Officer at Tel Aviv University and former dean of the  Coller School of Management, said: "The new Stanford University study reinforces Tel Aviv University’s unique position as a leading institution that provides its graduates with a significant advantage in the world of entrepreneurship. The high increase in the likelihood of our students becoming unicorn founders reflects a combination of academic excellence, entrepreneurial spirit, and the strengthening connection between education, research, and innovation.”

The index was conducted with the support of the Venture Capital Initiative of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.