Equity Solutions Services (ESS) is the latest addition to UC Berkeley’s ecosystem for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E). Under the leadership of Director Omar Qarshi, and including Carol Mimura and Raymund Santiago, the Equity Solutions Services manages UC Berkeley's company stock holdings, primarily those obtained from IP licenses and access to campus facilities and services, and other commercial arrangements.
Under the umbrella of the Chief Innovation & Entrepreneurship Officer's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), the team seeks to diversify the types of transactions that result in company stock ownership in support of the university's mission. The team collaborates with stakeholders across the start-up equity lifecycle, from company formation, capital raises, and corporate actions to liquidity/exit events. Our partners include UC Berkeley's Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Research Alliances, incubators, accelerators, hubs (e.g. CITRIS Foundry, BBH, BAIR Commons, and others) and affiliated venture capital funds (e.g. the eight existing “shared-carry funds”), and also the Office of the Chief Investment Officer and the Knowledge Transfer Office at UC’s Office of the President.
The ESS team’s responsibilities include the development of scalable tools and services for management of innovation equity in the Berkeley I&E ecosystem. As the leader in localized equity management, the team’s platform is designed with other UC campuses in mind. Services offered include the latest digital record keeping platforms inclusive of a full array of on-demand analytics tools, templates, and outsourcing program for campuses that desire to leverage Berkeley’s ecosystem.
In addition, ESS is the steward of all innovation acquired private equity portfolios across the entire UC Berkeley campus (including outsourced equity management for partner campuses). Initiatives include growing portfolio of equity positions through private financing rounds (e.g. Seed, Series A-D), ongoing management of equity rights, pro-rata rights, participation rights, capitalization tables, valuations, stock transfers, co- investment rights, corporate actions, mergers, acquisitions, and liquidity events.
This makes ESS a natural point of contact for interactions related to equity ownership between startups founders, the campus I&E ecosystem, and our shared-return venture capital partners. The team supports campus licensing officers in negotiations to help win more equity in advancing UCB’s mission. Consults incubator / accelerator programs on efficient means of taking equity stake in their startup cohorts. Advises University Development and Alumni Relations (UDAR) from time to time on management of gift-acquired equity in startups. Collaborates with Berkeley leadership on private equity programs established under various other commercial arrangements, and capital matches startups with our shared-return VC funds for financing needs.
An important goal of ESS is to help create new ways to acquire equity beyond licensing and many accelerators and incubators programs. Such as partnerships with other UC campuses, new initiatives under other commercial arrangements, and identifying avenues of co-investing for the benefit of Berkeley campus.