Regents approve UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fund to invest in UC‑affiliated startups; student and accounting questions raised

Regent Cohen, committee chair, called the roll and the Regents approved the creation of a UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fund, a campus‑controlled, Regents‑owned investment vehicle intended to invest in companies affiliated with the University of California.

Chancellor Lyons presented the fund concept and described four principal features: (1) the fund will be a separate for‑profit California limited liability company that is wholly owned by the Regents; (2) it will be operated by existing UC employees under a services agreement and subject to UC policies; (3) initial capital will be sourced primarily from no‑strings‑attached gifts; and (4) investments will be limited to UC‑affiliated startups and UC‑connected venture funds (permitted investments under the Regents’ policy and delegation). Lyons said Berkeley accepted Delegation of Authority DA 2650 in 2023 and implemented local equity management processes; the Chancellor’s Fund implements a campus‑controlled investment vehicle in that governance framework.

Student Observer Miguel Craven spoke during the item and praised the concept while raising two concerns: that students are not explicitly included in the fund’s mission or governance and that the fund’s permitted investments appeared fairly flexible (he suggested options such as student representation in a board or advisory role and dedicating a small fraction of returns to student services or scholarships). Miguel Craven said, “students aren't included explicitly within the mission of the fund or, are on the board in any sort of position.”

Regent Macarecian questioned how the campus would account for UC employees’ time, campus space and other in‑kind contributions when the fund or a portfolio company took on third‑party co‑investors. Rafael Paquin, principal counsel for equity transactions (Office of General Counsel), said the fund at the fund level will be 100% owned by the Regents and any co‑investment with third parties would occur in a separate special‑purpose vehicle (SPV). Paquin said the services agreement is intended to ensure the Regents receive the investment returns in exchange for the employee time and that any SPV that brings in third‑party investors would be charged for UC employee time and any use of campus facilities.

Berkeley presenters said philanthropic interest already exists: the campus has received $75,000,000 in philanthropy over the past year tied to an outside venture firm vehicle; that gift is currently restricted but would become unrestricted when it exits the outside structure. Campus staff said an operational minimum gift to stand up the fund would likely be near $900,000–$1,000,000 to operationalize the fund and that average deployment checks or an initial scale “in the tens of millions” (camp staff said $10–20 million as a working scale) would enable substantive investments and operations. Presenters also described existing due diligence capacity through affiliated venture partners and said investments would be limited to UC‑connected entities.

The Regents moved, seconded and called the roll; the item passed on the committee roll call. The transcript records the student‑observer concerns and the Regents’ accounting question and the campus responses described above. The campus said it will provide follow‑up details on student engagement, operational staffing and accounting for shared services as the fund is implemented.