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

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.

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 .

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.

1. Stanford University

BusinessInsider USA Images

turtix/Shutterstock

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

BusinessInsider USA Images

Brian Snyder/Reuters

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.

3. Harvard University

BusinessInsider USA Images

Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

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

BusinessInsider USA Images

Eric Risberg/AP

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.

5. University of Pennsylvania

BusinessInsider USA Images

Via Wikimedia Commons

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

BusinessInsider USA Images

Lewis Liu/Shutterstock

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 .

7. New York University

BusinessInsider USA Images

Melia Robinson/Business Insider

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

BusinessInsider USA Images

Michelle McLoughlin/Reuters

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.

9. Columbia University

BusinessInsider USA Images

LENS-68/Shutterstock

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

BusinessInsider USA Images

Tupungato/Shutterstock

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 .