He found out how many start-ups have been founded by graduates of Israeli universities and their foreign peers. He categorized the start-ups in CunchBase by the university attended by their founders to discover which universities produce the most entrepreneurs: Ivy League universities, such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton; or technology and entrepreneur-oriented universities, such the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford, and University of California Berkeley.
Tel Aviv University was ranked 14th worldwide. As for US universities, although Harvard topped the list, it was followed by the above mentioned technology-oriented universities, and only then by other Ivy League institutions.
On the basis of Wolf's findings, Tel Aviv University decided to crunch its own numbers from CrunchBase, and the university reaffirmed that it was 14th worldwide. The Technion Israel Institute of Technology was ranked 26th, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was ranked 55th, the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya was ranked 69, and Ben Gurion University of the Negev was ranked 108th.
The figures are based only on data in CrunchBase, which focuses on IT, Internet, and media start-ups, and underrepresents start-ups in the life sciences, agro-sciences, nanotechnology, and material sciences. In addition, registration on CrunchBase is voluntary, and companies seeking to keep a low profile, or which do not target the US market, do not necessarily appear in it. CrunchBase also does not representb longstanding companies, because they matured before the database was established. Notwithstanding these caveats, the database is a good representative of the start-up scene centered on Silicon Valley.
On the basis of CrunchBase data, graduates of Tel Aviv University raised $881 million for start-ups listed in CrunchBase, Technion graduates raised $403 million, and Hebrew University graduates raised $78 million.
Tel Aviv University graduates also top the list in the category of the most money raised by start-ups in their first financing rounds - $227 million. Technion graduates raised $63.5 million, and Hebrew University graduates raised $46 million.
Prominent start-ups founded by Tel Aviv University graduates listed in CrunchBase is Palo Alto Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: PANW), founded by Nir Zuk, which has raised $320 million; Waze Ltd., which has raised $67 million; and Goodmail Systems, which raised $45 million.
Technion graduates have founded Conduit Ltd., which has raised 110 million; social networking app Tango Ltd., which has raised $87 million; and Gigya Ltd., which has raised $45 million.
Hebrew University graduates have founded Imperva Inc. (NYSE: IMPV), which has raised $37 million; Cloudshare Ltd., which has raised $20 million; and Veraz Ltd., which raised $10 million.
Bar Ilan University graduates have founded Amobee Inc., which has raised $54 million; and eXelate Ltd., which has raised $32 million.
Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya graduates founded 5min Ltd., together with Tel Aviv University graduates, which has raised $12.5 million.
Ben Gurion University graduates have founded DudaMobile Ltd., which has raised $18.6 million; and Personetics Ltd., which has raised $18 million. Open University graduates founded Taboola Ltd., which has raised $40 million, and University of Haifa graduates founded Fiverr Ltd., which has raised $20 million.
Capital raised by start-ups of Israeli colleges and universities
* Tel Aviv University: capital raised in first financing rounds - $227.2 million; total capital raised - $881.9 million.
* Technion: capital raised in first financing rounds - $63.5 million; total capital raised - $403.2 million.
* Bar Ilan University: capital raised in first financing rounds - $9 million; total capital raised - $86 million.
* Hebrew University: capital raised in first financing rounds - $46 million; total capital raised - $78 million.
* Ben Gurion University: capital raised in first financing rounds - $11.1 million; total capital raised - $55.2 million.
* Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya: capital raised in first financing rounds - $7.8 million; total capital raised - $32.8 million.
* Open University: capital raised in first financing rounds - $3.3 million; total capital raised - $47.8 million.
* Academic College of Tel Aviv-Jaffa : capital raised in first financing rounds - $5.9 million; total capital raised - $34.69 million.
* University of Haifa: capital raised in first financing rounds - $5 million; total capital raised - $20 million.
* College of Management: capital raised in first financing rounds - $0.3 million; total capital raised - $0.3 million.
* Holon Intitute of Technology: capital raised in first financing rounds - $0.3 million; total capital raised - $0.3 million.