Berkeley’s Flywheel of Innovation
Reinvesting in ideas that begin in university labs and grow into lasting change
Doe Library, University of California Berkeley
The Untapped Potential of Public Innovation
The University of California (UC) system is one of the world’s most powerful engines of innovation. Each year, UC researchers generate breakthroughs that could transform healthcare, energy, agriculture, and countless other sectors. Historically, the institution has not had a consistent, scalable path to capture value from the commercialization of its discoveries.
To address that challenge, UC Berkeley launched a set of innovative investment vehicles known as shared carry funds. These funds are designed to return a portion of their profits back to the university, creating a flywheel of innovation in which public research continues to benefit both society at large and the institution that nurtured it.
A New Model for Innovation: Shared Carry Funds + IPIRA
California Innovation Fund (Cal Fund) is proud to be one of the eight shared carry funds at UC Berkeley. We align on a common mission to translate university research into commercial ventures that reinvest in the system that made them possible. What sets Cal Fund apart is our close working relationship with UC Berkeley’s Intellectual Property & Industry Research Alliances (IPIRA). IPIRA protects and manages the university’s intellectual property, oversees industry partnerships, and manages equity in startups rooted in Berkeley intellectual property (IP). This unique relationship enables Cal Fund to invest in high-potential startups based on cutting-edge university IP referred to us directly.
Meet the Heroes: Startups Advancing Public Science
Nearly a quarter of Cal Fund’s portfolio has been sourced through our collaboration with IPIRA, and several of those companies represent some of our most compelling recent investments:
Vivere Oncotherapies is based on research from Berkeley professor David Schaffer’s lab, which has produced eight startups and three exits. Vivere is developing a platform to treat cold tumors, cancers that hide from the body’s immune system and resist common treatments. By engineering a platform to “unmask” these cancers, the technology makes the tumors visible to the immune system and responsive to treatment. Led by Berkeley alum Melissa Kotterman, whose past successes include taking 4D Molecular Therapeutics public and selling Ignite Immunotherapy to Pfizer, the company is building a new frontier in cancer treatment. Read more of their story here.
Vivere Oncotherapies team. L-R: Adam Schieferecke, Hyuncheol Lee, David Schaffer, Noem Noiwangklang, Melissa Kotterman, John Dueber. Photo courtesy Vivere.
Mammoth Biosciences is co-founded by Nobel laureate and CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna. Mammoth has developed gene-editing technology designed to treat diseases at the genetic level — directly inside the body (in vivo) — and to reach tissues that traditional CRISPR tools cannot. With the potential to address large unmet medical needs and deliver life-changing outcomes for patients, Mammoth’s technology, supported by partnerships with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, is poised to create lasting impact in medicine. Learn more about Mammoth Biosciences on their website.
Mammoth Biosciences founding team. L-R: Janice Chen, Lucas Harrington, Jennifer Doudna, Trevor Martin. Photo courtesy Mammoth Biosciences.
Stylus Medicine is building what could be the next generation of gene therapy: in vivo CAR-T treatments. This means editing immune cells directly in the body — eliminating the need for expensive, lab-based cell extraction and scaling the treatment to more patients. Led by Emile Nuwaysir, a seasoned biotech entrepreneur with three successful exits (including an acquisition by Roche Diagnostics), Stylus is backed by a roster of top-tier investors including Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, and Khosla Ventures. They are reimagining how we treat cancer, autoimmune disease, and genetic disorders. Learn more about Stylus Medicine on their website.
These companies, along with our early investments in Synvivia, Catena, and Calyx, were all sourced from Cal Fund’s direct relationship with IPIRA. They illustrate the strength of the UC Berkeley ecosystem: world-class science, seasoned teams, and platform technologies built to scale.
The Impact of the Cal Fund + IPIRA Collaboration
The value of Cal Fund and IPIRA’s collaboration goes beyond just connecting companies to capital. Collectively, we also help these companies access the tools, mentorship , and networks they need. The vast innovation ecosystem available to them through UC Berkeley includes Bakar BioLabs, Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials, Berkeley SkyDeck, Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Hub (eHub), and more.
The shared carry model is working and growing. Its success inspired the launch of the Berkeley Chancellor’s Fund, a new fund investing in UC-affiliated startups that returns all profits back to the university. Most importantly, it has invigorated the entire innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem within the UC system, creating a virtuous cycle that benefits students, researchers, founders, and society at large.
