Nova School of Business & Economics (Nova SBE) has just secured the 4th position in the Redstone University Startup Index 2025, further strengthening its position as one of the most entrepreneurial business schools in Europe.
This recognition, achieved just one week after Nova SBE's Master's in Finance was ranked as the 6th best in the world by the Financial Times, clearly reinforces the central role of entrepreneurship in the school's mission. This commitment, reflected in the work of the Nova SBE Haddad Entrepreneurship Institute, highlights startup creation as an institutional ambition rather than a set of isolated academic courses.
The Redstone University Startup Index 2025 analysed 905 universities and research institutions, with a combined budget of nearly €250 billion and more than 14,000 startups linked to alumni founders or direct university spin-offs. The index measures the relative efficiency of institutions in startup creation, comparing their performance with that of the top 20 business schools and 100 general universities.
"I joined Nova SBE with the mission of making entrepreneurship a central pillar of the school. It is gratifying to see how far we have come, and we are very proud to lead this movement with real impact which, thanks to our students, faculty, alumni, and partners, allows us to continue transforming ideas into purposeful projects," said Euclides Major, Executive Director of the Nova SBE Haddad Entrepreneurship Institute.
The impact of academic entrepreneurship: numbers that make a difference
The study, which reveals profound disparities in the efficiency of European universities (some institutions generate up to 80 startups per €100 million of annual budget, while others produce only one), indicates that if all universities reached the level of the most efficient, Europe could generate an additional 327,030 startups over the next decade. This would potentially create over 13 million new jobs and €6.9 trillion in equity value.
Strengthening the role of universities in Europe’s economic future
The report, prepared by venture capital fund Redstone in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University, recommends recognising entrepreneurship as the "third pillar" of institutions (alongside research and teaching). It highlights several practices that can be implemented with low financial investment: integrating entrepreneurship across disciplines, mobilising alumni networks, supporting local ecosystems, and promoting interdisciplinary programs.