The Irish economy has been handed another boost to its reputation after Trinity College Dublin was named as the number one university in Europe for budding entrepreneurs.
The college produced more start-up companies and entrepreneurs between 2010 and 2015 than anywhere else in Europe, including prestigious institutes like Oxford and Cambridge Universities and the London School of Economics.
The findings come from The University Report, carried out by Pitchbook. They investigated the number of undergraduate alumni that go on to create a business that got first-round venture capitalism.
TCD produced an impressive 106 start-up companies and 114 entrepreneurs over the last five years, generating €575m in investment.
Diarmuid O’Brien, Director of Trinity Research & Innovation, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and underlines the impact our graduates are making as innovators and entrepreneurs whose companies are changing Ireland – and the world – for the better. Trinity is committed to supporting out students develop into entrepreneurs who can create real social and economic impact.”
Many of the start-ups were assisted by Launchbox, which is a three month support and funding structure to help new businesses get off the ground.
Some of the notable success stories from TCD include the not-for-profit organisation Foodcloud, which connects companies with surplus food (such as restaurants and supermarkets) to local food distribution and homeless charities who can collect it.
TCD are not the only source of national pride from the Pitchbook report. Ireland can also be proud of University College Dublin which finished fourth on the list, with 70 entrepreneurs and 62 new companies started since 2010.