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The University of Waterloo has once again received international recognition for its strength in entrepreneurship, innovation and venture creation. The 2026 PitchBook University Rankings place Waterloo in its top 10 for producing successful entrepreneurs — the first time a Canadian school has achieved that mark.
In the rankings for entrepreneurs with an undergraduate degree, Waterloo ranked seventh globally, making it the highest-ranked university outside the U.S. In the ranking for entrepreneurs with a graduate degree, Waterloo placed 54th in the world, tying the University of British Columbia for the second-highest rank in Canada.
Waterloo was also recognized as the fastest riser in PitchBook’s rankings for female founders with an undergraduate degree. The University ranked 11th globally.
“Breaking into PitchBook’s top 10 places our university where it belongs, among the world’s leading institutions for entrepreneurship,” says John Dick, Managing Director of Velocity, the University’s flagship incubator and entrepreneurship program. “More importantly, it reflects what our founders are accomplishing: turning their ambitious ideas into companies that attract investment, create opportunity and deliver meaningful impact. This achievement reflects the extraordinary success of our alumni founders and our university-wide commitment to entrepreneurship.”
PitchBook's annual rankings measure universities based on the number of alumni founders whose companies have received venture capital investment in the last decade. The rankings are widely regarded as one of the most credible indicators of a university's ability to cultivate entrepreneurial talent because they focus on real-world business creation, venture funding and startup success. According to PitchBook’s reports, the top companies founded by Waterloo alumni include Databricks, Instacart, ContextLogic Holdings and Arctic Wolf.
Entrepreneurial students and researchers at Waterloo benefit from a comprehensive network of programs, facilities, mentors and funding opportunities, including Velocity, the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, GreenHouse and other campus supports. Since its launch, Velocity has helped more than 560 startups grow into companies that have generated more than $40 billion in enterprise value.
According to the University’s recent economic and alumni impact report, Waterloo alumni have founded more than 67,900 companies globally, generating $397 billion annually and spanning a wide variety of sectors, including artificial intelligence, fintech, health technology, software, advanced manufacturing and sustainability. The University's entrepreneurial community is a key driver of the innovation economy in Waterloo region, the Toronto-Waterloo innovation corridor and Canada. In Ontario alone, Waterloo entrepreneurs have generated $405 million in GDP.
As competition for talent, investment and commercialization continues to intensify worldwide, Waterloo's presence among the world's leading entrepreneurial universities demonstrates the enduring value of its distinctive approach to innovation that combines world-class research and education, co-operative learning, innovator communities and spaces to build.
Review the full 2026 PitchBook University Rankings.
Review the 2026 PitchBook Female Founders rankings.
The article was originally published on UWaterloo News.