IESE has reached its highest position yet in the 2026 PitchBook University Rankings, placing 3rd in Europe and 14th worldwide for MBA founders, companies founded and capital raised. PitchBook identified 391 IESE MBA alumni behind 350 venture-backed companies that collectively raised $10 billion. The school also stands out for female entrepreneurship, ranking 2nd in Europe for capital raised by companies founded by female MBA alumni. The result marks IESE’s highest position to date in this ranking, while reflecting a broader ambition: to help entrepreneurs not only launch ventures, but build responsible, resilient companies that last. Read the full story.

Nearly 150 alumni, faculty and business leaders gathered in London for IESE’s first UK Summit, with entrepreneurship among the themes taking center stage. In a roundtable featuring Edward Orr (MBA ’00), Jonathan Lakin (GEMBA ’03) and Sam Glasswell (MBA ’16), the founders shared lessons from building and growing their businesses, reflecting on resilience, experimentation and learning through practice. Their conversation explored how crises can sharpen a business and why, in fast-moving environments, recognizing and correcting mistakes quickly can matter more than trying to avoid them altogether. Read the full story.

Creative Destruction Lab, whose San Sebastian site is supported by IESE’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, has announced a new partnership with OpenAI to support AI-enabled ventures across its global network. More than 700 startups in the 2026/27 program will gain greater access to OpenAI’s technology, with selected ventures also receiving hands-on technical support and research previews. At CDL San Sebastian, IESE co-leads the Artificial Intelligence and Quantum streams under Professor Sampsa Samila’s academic direction, connecting the partnership directly with IESE’s work supporting science-based entrepreneurship. Read the full story.

What does it take to make corporate–startup collaboration work? IESE’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center is delivering two EU-LAC Digital Accelerator Bootcamps, approaching the challenge from both sides. Startup participants explored corporate decision-making, proof-of-concept roadmaps and adoption, while corporate teams, including representatives from Mondelēz International and Renault Group, will focus on structuring collaborations, aligning stakeholders and moving solutions beyond experimentation. Together, the bootcamps offer complementary perspectives on building effective partnerships between startups and corporations across Europe and Latin America. Learn more about the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator.

What does fundraising look like from both sides of the table? An event organized by IESE’s MBA Startup & Entrepreneurship Club brought together Anna Muñoz Farré, founder and CEO of Punto Health, and Maria Beatriz de Orleans e Bragança (MBA’00), Partner at Headline, for a conversation on entrepreneurship, fundraising and women in venture capital. Hosted by Thaís Carballido, MBA candidate and VP of Women Founders at the Club, the session gave MBA students and participants a first-hand look at how founders approach fundraising and what investors look for when deciding which startups to back. Follow the Club's activities on LinkedIn. 

Are you working in corporate innovation, venturing, strategy, transformation or startup collaboration in Latin America? A series of small executive sessions will take place this November in San José, Costa Rica; Monterrey, Mexico; and Bogotá, Colombia, bringing together corporate leaders to exchange experiences, discuss practical challenges and engage with IESE insights. We’d particularly like to hear from IESE Alumni interested in joining a session or recommending a colleague from their organization. Places are limited, and participation will be confirmed in advance. Express your interest.

A promising AI initiative can be as much an organizational challenge as a technological one. A new IESE case by Professor Jeroen Neckebrouck follows SoniTech, a B2B manufacturer developing an AI-powered tool for commercial building design. As the project encounters competing priorities, resource constraints and resistance to changing established ways of working, the case explores the challenges of driving innovation from within. It also raises an ethical dilemma when fabricated AI-generated evidence is used to create urgency around the project. Find out more.

How do investors decide which opportunities are worth pursuing? A new IESE case by professors Jeroen Neckebrouck and Yuliya Snihur puts readers in the shoes of a newly hired venture capital professional tasked with evaluating four very different businesses, spanning sustainable materials, healthcare consulting, Internet of Things and AI. By comparing and ranking the opportunities, the case explores the criteria behind early investment decisions and how the same opportunity can look different from an entrepreneur’s and an investor’s perspective. Find out more.