Spin-off SIG Webinar #8

Spin-off SIG Webinar #8

Splitting the Pie: Equity Negotiations Between Universities and Startups

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Who deserves equity in a university spin-off, and how much? These questions create some of the most contentious negotiations in knowledge transfer, and the answers can make or break a startup's future fundraising potential.

This panel tackles the practical challenges knowledge transfer offices face daily: What’s the effect of adding royalties and milestone payments on top of equity stakes? Should faculty who won't join as founders still receive equity? How much should universities take? We'll start with cap table fundamentals (how shares are allocated and how dilution works), then dive into real-world scenarios where theory meets messy reality.

Topics include:

  • Cap table fundamentals: share allocation, dilution, and vesting
  • Determining fair equity splits between founders, university, and early contributors
  • Royalties plus equity: when to use both, and when one approach is enough
  • Country-specific requirements and how they shape deal structures

The panel brings diverse experience from Cambridge, USC, venture capital, venture studios, and pharmaceutical licensing. Participants are encouraged to share their own challenges and lessons learned in structuring these deals.

Panelists: Declan Weldon (Cambridge Enterprise), Matt Wichrowski (VC and author), Rubén Darío Flores Saaib (Ligand Pharmaceuticals, formerly USC and General Inception), and Martin Raditsch (CARMA FUND Management and Innovectis GmbH). D'vorah Graeser, founder of RocketSmart AI, will moderate.

This webinar is organised by the Spin-off SIG. Join the Spin-off SIG to stay tuned.

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Organisation and speakers were great, so enthusiastic about their work and very good at transferring their knowledge.

Sarka Bartova

Research Centre Rez, Czech Republic

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I really like the course and the networking. I would like to come again.

Nancy Goel

Qatar Foundation, Qatar

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The new website signals this pioneering, resonating role and is a tribute to the many accomplishments and innovations European TTO’s have generated and implemented over many years, thus strengthening both our economy and society.

Koenraad Debackere

KU Leuven, Belgium

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There was ample opportunity to learn from colleagues through the workshop sessions or more formally through speakers either sharing their years of experience or their state of the art research. Well worth attending.

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University of Limerick, Ireland

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This is a wonderful conference to expand the horizon of my knowledge of tech transfer and commercialisation.

Seung-Ho Lee

Deltatech-Korea, South Korea