UC Berkeley Haas has received an anonymous $10 million gift to support student entrepreneurship for years to come, reinforcing the school’s position among the nation’s top producers of startup founders.
The donors, both UC Berkeley alumni, share a deep commitment to entrepreneurship. The gift will be used to support all aspects of entrepreneurship at the Haas School of Business, ensuring that students will benefit from an enhanced curriculum, mentorship, pitch days, team collaboration, founder support, and many more startup opportunities.
“This generous gift to Haas will provide vital and lasting support for our entrepreneurship programs, helping us to double down on the human parts of entrepreneurship: creativity, collaboration, and community,” said Dean Jenny Chatman. “The endowment also ensures that entrepreneurship opportunities at Berkeley are accessible to all of our students and not limited by background or prior experience.”
“This endowment is aligned with Berkeley’s mission to stay true to its academic core while becoming an engine of innovation and impact,” added UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons, a former Haas dean. “We believe that our Berkeley startup founders—through the power of science, innovation, and education—are changing the world.”
Gift divided among three efforts
The gift will be initially divided among three entrepreneurship efforts:
UC LAUNCH: About 40% of the endowment’s annual earnings will support UC LAUNCH, Berkeley Haas’ flagship startup accelerator and the premier university-based accelerator within the University of California’s 10 campuses. UC LAUNCH provides a rigorous three-month experience for selected teams, blending Lean Startup principles with mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
The Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Hub (eHub): About 30% of the gift will help fund the eHub “navigator”—an on-site staff member who helps students understand the university’s vast innovation ecosystem, playing a critical role in supporting first-generation and underrepresented students. There are some-100 separate entities devoted to innovation and entrepreneurship on campus—including incubators. (Read an interview with eHub Navigator Karenna Rehorn.)
StEP (Student Entrepreneurship Program): About 30% of the gift will support this campuswide, 10-week incubator designed to support the earliest stages of startup development. StEP focuses on forming inclusive teams, idea validation, and founder readiness, with structured sessions that help participants refine concepts and build viable ventures.
A top producer of founders
This year, for the third year in a row, UC Berkeley graduates founded more venture-backed companies than undergraduate alumni from any other university in the world, according to the 2025 PitchBook university rankings. PitchBook also reported that no other university graduates more female founders than Berkeley.
“As the top producer of founders among all universities, our UC Berkeley and Haas entrepreneurs will be empowered at the earliest stages to build out novel startups that will address the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Professor Saikat Chaudhuri, faculty director of the Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Hub.
Rhonda Shrader, executive director of the UC LAUNCH program and the Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program (BHEP), said she is “infinitely grateful” for a gift that will help nurture future founders.
“Focusing on entrepreneurship for all and a strong, interconnected curriculum, we’ll streamline the student startup journey, amplifying the potential to solve social, environmental, and economic challenges,” she said. “We don’t have time to waste, so this generosity is perfectly timed.”