The Berkeley RIC Faculty Lab eXceptional-use for Innovation & Entrepreneurship program (Berkeley RIC FLEXIE) enables early stage (pre-product sales) startup companies affiliated with UC Berkeley to temporarily conduct new product R&D in faculty labs—under certain conditions and rigorous oversight. The conditions enable the university to:
- Maintain oversight of campus facilities,
- Prioritize research and education over commercial use,
- Ensure environmental, health, and safety compliance,
- Monitor private use to stay within the safe harbor under the non-profit tax code,
- Manage conflicts of interest,
- Clarify intellectual property rights,
- Establish fair market value fees,
- Maintain best practices for campus visitors including insurance and secure facilities,
- Address private gain issues and public perception
The FLEXIE program is only for startups that are: (1) early stage (pre-product sales), and (2) affiliated with UC Berkeley’s startup accelerators as listed on BEGIN, the Berkeley Gateway to Innovation directory of campus I&E resources (begin.berkeley.edu).
How to Get Started
The first step is to find a faculty lab that:
- has appropriate equipment and resources, and
- is led by a faculty member who is willing to host your startup through the FLEXIE program.
There is no application form. All project information is added during the contracting process.
Contact Mike Cohen (mike.c@berkeley.edu) for a copy of the FLEXIE agreement and to go over any questions regarding the program requirements or the contract, which is non-negotiable.
To approve and finalize the agreement, the campus requires approvals and notifications, which include:
- the FLEXIE's lab faculty leader,
- the department chair's and dean's office,
- the campus Space Assignment & Capital Improvements (SACI) office,
- the UCOP capital planning office (for tracking of commercial use), and
- a fair market value review.
And, if appropriate, approvals by the EH&S office, conflict of interest committee, and animal use committee may be required
- An animal use plan along with animal use committee review and approval are required for any FLEXIE that uses animals.
- A COI management plan along with COI committee review and approval are required for a PI to host a FLEXIE in which any of the following relationships apply to the startup and: (a) the faculty leader hosting the company, (b) any UC employee in the hosting faculty leader's lab, or (c) any family member of the host faculty leader.
- operating position
- advisory role
- stock equity ownership
- other compensation
- An EH&S plan along with EH&S committee review and approval are required for a FLEXIE that uses any of the following:
- Radioactive materials and x-ray machines
- Recombinent DNA; synthetic nucleic acids; WHO Risk Group 2 or higher pathogens; biological toxins; material of human or non-human primate origin, including cell lines
- Explosives
- Pyrophoric materials (ignite on contact with air)
- Toxic gasses
- DEA-listed Controlled substances
- Class 3b or 4 lasers
How is Intellectual Property Handled?
IP solely invented or authored by startup employees under the FLEXIE agreement is jointly owned by the company and the university. In most cases, the university does not exercise its right to commercially license the IP, and can only use the IP for research, education, and non-profit purposes. Essentially the startup has exclusive commercial rights without the need for a university license.
How are Fair Market Value Fees Determined?
Under the FLEXIE agreement, startups pay the university fair market value (FMV) fees plus 20% overhead for use of the specific resources to be used. FMV is based on comparables and/or amortized costs. Accordingly, to maintain transparency and auditability, all the FMV research and analysis is included in the FLEXIE agreements for reference.
