UCD ranked 5th university in Europe for VC-backed entrepreneurs

4 Sep 2014

Dublin’s University College Dublin (UCD) has been ranked fifth in a list of European universities that have produced venture capital (VC)-backed graduates.

Private equity research firm PitchBook in its report Top Universities for VC-backed Entrepreneurs, which covers January 2009 to August 2014, noted that 31 UCD graduate entrepreneurs established 26 companies that raised US$112m in funding.

UCD is the only Irish university in the top 10 list of European universities.

The University of London ranked the best overall university in Europe with 71 graduate entrepreneurs establishing 67 companies that raised just over US$1bn in funding.

Stanford ranked No 1 globally according to this report, with 378 entrepreneurs establishing 309 companies raising just over US$3.5bn.

The PitchBook VC database includes the educational backgrounds of more than 13,000 founders worldwide. 

Venture capital image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com