Most Fundable Companies of 2024

Los Angeles, CA: “The Pepperdine Graziadio Business School announced its 2024 list of Most Fundable Companies®, 18 innovative companies that are poised to impact their respective sectors. The awards and accompanying gala are presented by the Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship.

This year, over 2000 early-stage US startups from all 50 states applied for recognition among the Most Fundable Companies, which is a free resource to help high-growth potential companies secure capital, attract investors, and scale their business. The seventh annual list included companies across industries such as FinTech, AgTech, Healthcare, Industrial Automation, Consumer Packaged Goods, and Advanced Materials.

“Having been a founder of a business myself, I understand the challenges of thriving in today’s competitive market,” said John Figueroa, Founder and Executive Chairman of CarepathRx and the keynote speaker at the Most Fundable Companies event. Figueroa, a 1997 MBA graduate from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, added, “Being named one of the Most Fundable Companies offers founders an exceptional opportunity to distinguish themselves as these companies represent the future. Each is committed to innovative growth and equipped with the tools needed for success. Investors should take note.”

The annual Most Fundable Companies initiative is a key part of Pepperdine’s programming to support and enhance the growing nation-wide interest in innovation and entrepreneurship. By providing a platform for growth-stage companies to attract investors, the Graziadio Business School is enhancing the businesses of tomorrow.

To see the full list, click here.

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UC Riverside School of Business Opens New Facility

Riverside, CA: “C Riverside’s School of Business opened its new building in late September, launching a new era at a state-of-the-art facility with increased space to meet fast-growing enrollment.

The four-story, 63,400-square-foot building was already bustling with activity, with students filling its auditorium, classrooms, and the lounge area near its café following the start of instruction on Sept. 26. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house celebration will be held Oct. 18.

The $87 million project, which began construction in April 2023, is a key element of the school’s plan to grow its faculty and increase enrollment with a modern building that fosters engagement with the community and business leaders, said Yunzeng Wang, dean of the school.

Wang marveled at the completed project shortly after moving into his new office, where a miniature model of the building sat on his desk.

“It’s very exciting,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”

The new building, which includes classrooms, administrative and faculty offices, and a large auditorium, creates a home base where students can learn, study, socialize, and network with their peers and business leaders in one place, School of Business leaders said.”

To read the full article, click here.

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Texas McCombs Dean Lillian Mills: An Interview

Austin American-Statesman: “By 9 a.m. on a Friday in September, 16 University of Texas students had gathered in the McCombs School of Business dean’s conference room. They weren’t in trouble, they weren’t interviewing, and they weren’t asking for extra credit. Instead, they had joined Dean Lillian Mills for breakfast tacos, orange juice and coffee to talk about their favorite nonbusiness class and ask her any questions they had brewing.

Mills became dean four years ago, and according to recently released U.S. News & World Report 2025 rankings, McCombs had the highest number of top-10 programs of all UT schools, with 12, and the highest number of top-10 programs of all business schools in the country. The university’s business programs tied for sixth place nationally and clinched first in Texas.

Over tinfoil-wrapped tacos, Mills, dressed in a burnt-orange suit, answered questions from the students about her daily routine (four shots of espresso after a 4:15 a.m. wake-up, a walk on the Forty Acres and a workout before work), her gratitude practice (texting five friends a day three things she’s grateful for), how connected she is to the other deans (very) and what UT football games look like for her (15,000-step days gleefully greeting alumni and guests).

“Even deans have this ‘Do I belong?’ ” fear, Mills confessed to the students gathered at the Sept. 27 Tacos with the Dean chat as she candidly and often vulnerably answered questions. It took her three years, she said, to realize she does belong.

Now, she wants the school she leads and the students within it to fasten and embrace relationships and resources across UT, leaning into collaboration and curiosity in business and beyond.

“Your job is to be the connector,” she told them. “You need all of this richness to expand all the things you’ll bring to your business you start one day.”

In a sit-down interview with the American-Statesman three weeks into the start of the fall semester, Mills spoke about the new plans in the works at the ever-busy business school, updates to the planned new undergraduate business building, and the effect the top-ranked business programs have on students.”

To read the full interview, click here.

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From Pro Golfer to Entrepreneur: Darden’s Kelly Okun’s Pans to Transform Women’s Sports

Charlottesville, VA: “As a former professional golfer turned entrepreneur and MBA candidate at the University of Virginia Darden School, Kelly Okun (Class of 2025) is driving change on and off the course.

Okun’s passion for golf began early and flourished during her time as a varsity athlete at the College of William & Mary. However, after an impressive career playing on the LPGA’s developmental tour and a professional tour in Australia, she recognized a larger calling.

“As much as I loved being a professional golfer, I felt I could make a bigger impact outside the ropes,” Okun reflects on her decision to transition from professional sports to a golf marketing agency and then business school. This realization propelled her to apply to Darden, seeking the tools and network to amplify her impact.

Identifying a significant gap in media coverage and funding for women’s golf, Okun founded Fairway to Green, an equitable sports media company with a mission to increase visibility and investment in women’s golf.

“I saw an opportunity when I was interviewing a friend who had just won her LPGA card,” Okun explains. “Why can’t we shine more of a light on the women that are playing? That’s what ultimately drove me.”

To read the full article, click here.

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