A Stanford analysis ranks the University of Utah first nationwide for the likelihood that its graduates will found venture-backed unicorns, highlighting the university's growing influence in entrepreneurship, innovation, and startup success.
Salt Lake City, Utah — June 26, 2026
A new analysis by Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Ilya Strebulaev ranks the University of Utah No. 1 in the U.S. for the likelihood that its graduates will go on to found a unicorn—a privately held startup valued at $1 billion or more.
According to the study, University of Utah graduates are approximately 2.3 times more likely than the average venture-backed founder to launch a unicorn, giving the university the highest "odds ratio" among U.S. institutions analyzed.
Unlike rankings based on the total number of unicorn founders, Strebulaev's methodology measures the probability that a graduate who becomes a venture-backed founder will build a billion-dollar company. The ranking adjusts for the fact that larger universities produce more startup founders overall.
"Stanford and MIT produce the most unicorn founders. But the University of Utah gives you the best odds," Strebulaev wrote in LinkedIn in presenting the findings.
The University of Utah ranked ahead of several elite research institutions, including the University of California, San Francisco, Yale University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
University leaders credit the ranking to the institution's emphasis on commercialization, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Programs such as the David Eccles School of Business and the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute have helped build one of the nation's strongest university entrepreneurship ecosystems, providing students with mentorship, funding opportunities, startup incubators, and the nationally recognized Lassonde Studios innovation hub.
The university has also become a significant pipeline for founders in life sciences, health technology, enterprise software, and deep technology—sectors that continue to drive Utah's growing innovation economy.
“Great companies start with great founders, and helping students become those founders is at the heart of what we do at the University of Utah,” said Kurt Dirks, dean of the David Eccles School of Business. “Through entrepreneurship programs across campus, students can launch a new venture or accelerate their current company. This is part of our goal to fuel Utah’s economy.”
The findings come as Utah's startup ecosystem continues to gain national attention for producing high-growth companies and attracting venture capital investment.
Strebulaev's research focused on founders of venture-backed companies and included only universities associated with at least 10 unicorn founders.
Strebulaev’s posting about his research findings shown here: