IESE-Trained Startups Create 102,800 Jobs Worldwide, Raise $14.5 Billion in Capital

MBA Blog / 19th February 2024

Companies founded by the IESE Business School community have created 102,800 jobs worldwide and raised $14.5 billion in capital, including three unicorns. These figures, which show how the school continues to expand its entrepreneurial ecosystem, come from the latest impact report from IESE’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center.

The jobs have been created by entrepreneurs trained through IESE’s programs or initiatives on five continents, and the capital raised comes from companies founded by IESE students or alumni. The report also concludes that 30 per cent of IESE alumni start a company within five years of graduation. Not surprisingly, 1,400 IESE students are supported each year by the school’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The numbers in the report are based on an analysis of internal IESE data, complemented with external databases such as Crunchbase, Dealroom, PitchBook, and LinkedIn, among others.

Some data points of the impact report:

–  102,800 jobs created by IESE-trained entrepreneurs on five continents.

–  14.5 billion dollars in capital raised by companies founded by IESE students and alumni.

–  30% of IESE alumni start a company within five years of graduation.

–  71 million dollars invested in startups through mechanisms associated with IESE alumni.

Based on cutting-edge research and thought leadership

“Entrepreneurship is one of the streams of thought leadership that the school develops not only in academic journals but also in the media,” says Prof. Gaizka Ormazabal, Associate Dean for Research and the PhD Program. Some of the results of this expertise include:

• Being selected by the European Commission and governments in Asia and Latin America to lead or manage funding for 27 competitive research projects.
• 20 publications per year, including academic articles, books, studies and business cases in journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Administration Science Quarterly, Strategic Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, MIT Management Sloan Review, and more.
• 1,683 publications in total, since 1972, also including book chapters, technical notes, proceedings, and other articles.

IESE was also the first European business school to teach entrepreneurship in its MBA program in 1974-1975. Since then, the school’s entrepreneurship and innovation activity has grown in quality, quantity, connectedness and impact. Moreover, “the value of an entrepreneurial mindset is transmitted through all our programs and activities,” notes Prof. Mª Julia Prats, IESE Academic Director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center. Some highlights:

• 28 professors and external collaborators that support entrepreneurship teaching and activities.
• 16 entrepreneurship elective courses.
• 90 extracurricular events per year, such as entrepreneurship conferences, hackathons and workshops – quadrupling the activity of six years ago.
• 1,400 IESE students are supported every year by the school’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“Entrepreneurship needs more than academic knowledge to flourish,” says Josemaria Siota, IESE Executive Director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center. “This is why the school has developed an ecosystem to support our students, alumni, professors and society to build solutions for a better tomorrow.” This includes the WeStart and WeGrow mentoring initiatives, Technology Transfer Group, International Search Funds Institute, Open Innovation Institute, Business Angels Network, and more.

UN Sustainable Development Goals 

The report, in addition to measuring the impact of IESE’s entrepreneurship activities, also tracks progress on its social goals, which are closely aligned with three of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: 

1. UN Goal #8 Decent work and economic growth:
2. Create 50,000 new jobs by supporting 5,000 entrepreneurs in building their startups and raising at least €500 million in venture investments. Achieved (2020-2023): 65%.
3. UN Goal #17 Partnerships to Achieve Goals:
4. Positively impact 2,000 senior executives worldwide through research and entrepreneurship activity. Achieved (2020-2023): 40%.
5. UN Goal #9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure:
6. Launch 200 new publications related to search funds, corporate venturing, technology transfer, angel investment, and scaleups to foster innovation. Achieved (2020-2023): 55%.