‘What a waste’: Vinod Khosla says IIT builds unicorns while Europe sits out entirely

Stanford, Harvard—and the Indian Institute of Technology. That’s the elite trio topping the global list of unicorn startup founders’ alma maters, according to a new report shared by top Silicon Valley investor Vinod Khosla. 

But while the US dominates the top 10, it’s India’s IIT that stands out as the only non-Western institution cracking the upper ranks—and outperforming every European university.

In a post on X, Khosla called the absence of any European university in the top 20 “a waste of talent suppressed by cultural mores,” highlighting a stark contrast in how nations convert academic excellence into entrepreneurial firepower.

The data, sourced from Mojo Mortgages, analyzed where founders of 300+ unicorn startups—those valued at $1 billion or more—went to college. Stanford leads with 63 alumni who’ve founded unicorns, followed by Harvard (39). But in third place, ahead of UC Berkeley, MIT, and Columbia, sits the Indian Institute of Technology with 36 unicorn founders.

This puts IIT not just at the top of the Indian contingent but as a global force in innovation, second only to two Ivy League giants. The Indian Institute of Management also made the top 10, giving India two entries—matching China’s Tsinghua and Peking.

Khosla’s framing underscores the IITs’ outsize impact despite comparatively limited resources and modest funding ecosystems. “No surprise that Stanford, Harvard and Indian Institute of Technology are top 3,” he wrote.

The report found most unicorn founders held business or STEM degrees—MBAs, computer science, engineering, and economics were the most common. While 462 held undergraduate degrees, 230 also completed postgrad studies.

With India producing 69 unicorn founders—third globally behind the US and China—IIT’s role is clear: it’s the beating heart of India’s tech entrepreneurship pipeline, even as it continues to punch far above its weight on the global stage.