The UC Berkeley and Stanford fervent rivalry was seen again in their race for having the largest number of tech startups created by undergraduate alums. PitchBook, an industry analytics firm that provides the most comprehensive M&A, private equity and venture capital information, recently released their data for the “Top Universities for VC-backed Entrepreneurs,” and UC Berkeley was at the top of the list with a count of 997 entrepreneurs, 881 companies, and a total of $14,239 million in capital raised.
Based on an analysis of the number of companies created, UC Berkeley was ranked #1! The top Berkeley-related companies receiving funding were Cloudera, Zynga, Machine Zone, Sapphire Energy and Harvest Power. Divided by sector, the new companies created by UC Berkeley were 45.5% Software, 3.9% Pharma & Biotech, 10.4% Commercial Services, 5% Consumer Goods and Recreation, 1.7% Energy, 7.3%Healthcare, 3.9% IT Hardware, 6.4% Media, and 16% in other sectors
UC Berkeley also ranked #1 for top Serial Founders. PitchBook defines Serial Founders as “entrepreneur who founded two or more separate companies that garnered a first round of venture financing within January 1, 2006 to August 15, 2016.” UC Berkeley was able to have a total of 157 serial entrepreneurs and have raised $4.2 Billion. Ranking #2 was Stanford University that had a total of 135 serial entrepreneurs and raised $2.6 Billion. It is no doubt that UC 
Berkeley and Stanford have consistently been ranking #1 and #2 for top entrepreneurial universities. Residing in Silicon Valley, both of these universities benefit from the geographic proximity to major sources of VC funding.
UC Berkeley tied for #2 in the number of startups founded by women graduates, with 104 women entrepreneurs founding 103 companies, with the University of Pennsylvania’s 104 founders of 100 companies. With 125 founders of 119 companies, Stanford received #1. However, UC Berkeley and Stanford women founders raised almost the same amount of money. They raised about $1.4 billion, which was exactly double the amount the University of Pennsylvania women founders raised. Some of UC Berkeley’s top women-founded companies were Sapphire Energy, One Kings Lane, Quantenna Communications, Terra Bella and Millendo Therapeutics.
PitchBook notes that given the broader context of what is happening in the VC landscape, many people within the venture industry rely on their personal networks. With Stanford and UC Berkeley at the top of the list, many are wondering if VCs will hone their focus even more on the Bay Area. PitchBook found that people rely on their most trusted connections, those whom they have known the longest, and share ties too.