Ben-Gurion University of the Negev ranks third globally outside the United States and first in Israel for its graduates’ odds of founding U.S. unicorn companies (a startup valued at more than $1 billion), according to a new analysis by Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Prof. Strebulaev is a world-renowned financial economist, author, lecturer, and one of the world’s leading academic experts in venture capital, private equity, and corporate innovation. He has served as professor of finance at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business since 2004 and as part of his research, has built one of the world’s largest academic databases tracking thousands of U.S. unicorn companies, their founders and the investors behind them.
The data analysis compared the academic background of 3,497 founders of U.S. unicorn companies with a random sample of 2,716 founders of VC-backed startups. The odds ratio reflects the degree of overrepresentation of a given institution’s graduates among unicorn founders, a measure that accounts for founder quality and normalizes for institution size. A score above 1 indicates significant overrepresentation.
At the top of the global ranking (outside the U.S.) are the following institutions:
- Tsinghua University (China) – odds ratio of 13.2
- INSEAD Business School (France/Singapore) – odds ratio of 9.3
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel) – odds ratio of 6.6
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s graduates outrank global elite institutions such as the University of Cambridge (odds ratio of 2.3) and Oxford (1.7) in the UK, as well as leading institutions from Israel, Canada and India.
The study highlights the prominence of Israeli entrepreneurship on the international stage. Of the top 18 universities outside the U.S., no fewer than six are Israeli, the highest number for any country (followed by India with five institutions, Canada with three and the UK with two).
Ranking of Israeli institutions by odds ratio:
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev – 6.6
- Reichman University – 5.4
- Technion – 3.1
- Bar-Ilan University – 2.9
- Tel Aviv University – 2.8
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem – 2.2
For nine years, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has been home to Entrepreneurship Center 360, which welcomes more than 5,000 students from all faculties each year. The center fosters an entrepreneurial culture that views entrepreneurship as a life skill, not just a path to founding a startup. Through programs, communities, courses, hackathons, personal mentoring and hands-on experience, students acquire the tools to identify opportunities, solve complex problems, lead teams and drive change.
The center is also home to Cactus Capital, a student-run venture capital fund that trains students to become venture capital investors and gives early-stage entrepreneurs access to capital, professional mentoring and an extensive network of entrepreneurs and investors. Together, Entrepreneurship Center 360 and Cactus Capital are part of an ecosystem connecting academic excellence, entrepreneurship, industry and impact, training the next generation of leaders and innovators.
In addition, the university’s technology transfer company, BGN, provides guidance and support for founding research-based startups and promotes the development of industry ties, among other activities.
Stanford’s findings confirm what we at Ben-Gurion University have known for some time: the unique ecosystem we’ve built in Beer-Sheva nurtures not only outstanding researchers, but also bold entrepreneurs and technology leaders with global impact. This isn’t just about numbers—it’s about the ambition, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that define our students and graduates. We are proud to see this spirit grow from the Negev and reach the forefront of the global tech industry.
This achievement is, above all, the story of our graduates. At Entrepreneurship Center 360, we give students the tools to identify opportunities, solve problems, lead people and turn ideas into reality. When these are the skills developed along the way, it’s no surprise that our graduates lead innovation and found groundbreaking companies in Israel and around the world.
It’s a great honor to lead industry relations and innovation at Ben-Gurion University. We will continue to develop and advance this field.
We encourage students and researchers at the university not only to push the boundaries of knowledge, but also to turn rigorous research into technologies, companies and sustainable solutions that can transform industries and improve lives around the world.
