10 US colleges and universities where female grads have gone on to secure more than $1 million in funding for their startups

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10 US colleges and universities where female grads have gone on to secure more than $1 million in funding for their startups
katrina lake stitch fix

Stitch Fix

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Stanford graduate Katrina Lake founded Stitch Fix, an online personal styling service valued at $1.4 billion at its IPO.

  • To date, there have been some 6,940 female company founders whose businesses have received more than $1 million in funding, according to research by UK business banking app Tide.
  • A number of these successful female founders have graduated from a cluster of top schools in the US.
  • Here are the top 10 US universities that have graduated the most female founders who've raised over $1 million, including MIT and Stanford University.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The state of women in the venture capital world is far from perfect.

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In 2019, female-founded companies only got 2.7% of VC funding, for a total of $3.54 billion, according to PitchBook. That's less than one company, WeWork, got during the same period, Fortune points out. WeWork received at least $5 billion.

And yet, women are entering entrepreneurship at a high rate. From 2018 to 2019, women started an average of 1,817 new businesses per day in the US and now represent 42% of nearly 13 million businesses overall. Women of color, in particular, are leading the way. They started 89% (1,625) of the new businesses opened every day from 2018 to 2019, according to the annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report.

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To date, there have been some 6,940 female company founders whose businesses have received more than $1 million in funding, according to Tide, a UK business banking app based that provides financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Using data from Crunchbase, a platform for finding business information, researchers sought to find out where these successful female entrepreneurs were graduating from. Not surprisingly, many that made the list are prestigious Ivy-league schools. In total, these female entrepreneurs have raised over $1 billion in funding.

Here are the 10 colleges that have graduated the most female founders who've raised over $1 million.

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1. Stanford University

1. Stanford University

Stanford University produced the most female founders who raised over $1 million, 186 to be exact. One Stanford graduate, Katrina Lake, founded Stitch Fix, an online personal styling service in the US. The company went public in 2017 and was valued at $1.4 billion at its IPO.

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Some 120 successful female founders graduated from MIT. One of those graduates, Stefania Mallett, founded ezCater, an online catering marketplace with approximately $320 million in funding.

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3. Harvard University

3. Harvard University

Harvard University graduated 105 female founders who've raised more than $1 million. Harvard graduate Alison Slavin, for example, founded Alarm.com, has raised at least $136 million.

4. University of California, Berkeley

4. University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley, comes right below Harvard University, with 104 female graduates who've raised over $1 million. Alumnus Vivian Qu, founded ViaeX, a biotech company that produces multiple products, including nanofiltration systems for water and air. The company has approximately $4 million in seed funding, according to Crunchbase.

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5. University of Pennsylvania

5. University of Pennsylvania

Some 70 female founders who've raised over $1 million graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. One example is Madeline Grayson, who founded TuckerNuck, an online clothing boutique with over $3 million in funding.

6. Cornell University

6. Cornell University

Some 66 female founders who've raised over $1 million graduated from Cornell. Carolyn Witte of women's healthcare company Tia is one of them. Her company has raised over $2.5 million.

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7. New York University

7. New York University

New York University graduated 65 female founders who've raised over $1 million. Alumnus Piera Gelardi cofounded Refinery29, the popular news website for women, in 2005.

8. Yale University

8. Yale University

Yale University graduated 63 female founders who've raised over $1 million. Rebecca Taub of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has raised over $38 million in funding, according to Crunchbase.

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9. Columbia University

9. Columbia University

Some 61 female founders who've raised over $1 million graduated from Columbia University. Jacqueline Corbelli is one of them. She founded BrightLine, which provides interactive TV solutions, in 2003 and has raised over $20 million.

10. Brown University

10. Brown University

Brown University graduated 46 female founders who've raised over $1 million. One alumnus, Merrill Stubbs, founded Food52, an online boutique of kitchen and home products. The company has raised over $96 million.

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