Giving Back with Venture Capitalist Dylan Chiu

As an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, Dylan Chiu studied Public Health and Political Economics and earned the SCET Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Technology. Today, he serves as a Principal at the Berkeley Frontier Fund, where he invests in the next generation of technology startups within the Berkeley network and gives back to UC Berkeley through a unique venture and philanthropy model.

Exploring the Startup Scene at UC Berkeley

At UC Berkeley, Dylan Chiu embraced every opportunity to learn and grow his skillset. During his undergraduate years, he gained hands-on exposure to entrepreneurship through participating in the European Innovation Academy in Portugal and taking several SCET courses. He soon discovered that, although he enjoyed being on the founding side of the startup, he realized that he was more passionate about investing in and guiding entrepreneurs in their journey. While at SCET, Chiu became involved with the Venture Lab, SCET’s early-stage campus incubator. There, he supported four companies—three of which were accepted into Y Combinator. The opportunity to hand-select the most promising companies in the Berkeley ecosystem was fulfilling, which prompted his interest in working with startups in different capacities. 

“I was addicted to learning about the ecosystem and what people are working on at the cutting edge of technology. But I didn’t think I was the founder type, so what I did was think about all the ways I could support entrepreneurs.”

The Origins of Berkeley Frontier Fund

His foray into the venture capital industry began at Ironfire Ventures in Hong Kong, where Chiu was recruited as an undergraduate. At the time, startups originating in Berkeley constituted around one-third of the firm’s investment portfolio, and it performed extremely well. 

However, Chiu identified a stark dichotomy: While UC Berkeley continued to be a stronghold for entrepreneurial success, the tangible returns received by the institution have paled in comparison. He said, “There was over 2 trillion of market value created in the last 20 years from Berkeley alums. And the amount of value captured by Berkeley, I would argue, is very little.” 

Inspired to close the gap in this discrepancy, Chiu dedicated himself to building the Berkeley Frontier Fund, a new kind of venture fund that would benefit from the Berkeley ecosystem and invest in its future.

“There’s 25 million, 50 million donations here and there. But as a whole, Berkeley never had a way to participate in these private funding rounds and capture the value of its, you know, the brilliance of its alumni. That’s what inspired me to start the Berkeley Frontier Fund and make sure that we are acting as a conduit for Berkeley to capture that value.”

As Chiu was building the Berkeley Frontier Fund, he drew from his background in Public Health to design a business model that would not only be sustainable—meaning that the firm would be able to make money for the investors backing it—but also generate a significant enough return to give back to UC Berkeley in a meaningful way. 

“When I was at Berkeley, I studied public health. It’s a very odd sort of background to go into venture capital, but I think one of the things that we focus on in public health is the sustainability of programs that we built, like public health initiatives and public health interventions. And that’s one of the things that I think we took into account: how can we build a gift that keeps on giving?”

The Venture Philanthropy Model

The Berkeley Frontier Fund’s model is unique. Through its venture and philanthropy model, intended to provide a “meaningful and sustainable revenue source” for the university, the fund donates 50% to UC Berkeley, while its limited partners, many of whom are donors and trustees of the university, additionally contribute 25% of their gains. A sense of shared responsibility and commitment to a common cause is critical to the firm’s success. Chiu described this essential partnership between the firm and its limited partners, noting that “[They’re] very fortunate that we have limited partners that also see the vision.” 

At Berkeley Frontier Fund, philanthropy goes beyond writing a check—the firm also supports around thirty student organizations on campus to help foster the next generation of entrepreneurs. 

“When the ecosystem grows, it benefits everybody. And we also want to give students that may not have considered entrepreneurship an opportunity to consider entrepreneurship, whether that’s, you know, their financial background doesn’t allow them to, or whether they were just not exposed to what entrepreneurship is, and we want to give them that opportunity to explore.”

A Fulfilling Path in Venture Capital

A defining moment in Chiu’s career—and one of his proudest achievements—was the Berkeley Frontier Fund’s investment in Neurona Therapeutics, a company developing a neural stem cell treatment for people with drug-resistant epilepsy. Corey Nicholas, the founder, completed his undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley and serves as an assistant professor at UCSF. At the time that the Berkeley Frontier Fund invested, Neurona Therapeutics was just doing animal studies—no human had yet to receive a dose.

Chiu, having studied Public Health at Berkeley, noted that witnessing the first patient being dosed with the treatment was an incredible experience—he was deeply moved by the patients’ emotional and life-changing responses to the treatment developed by Neurona Therapeutics. 

“One of the most fulfilling results of that was seeing the first patient be dosed. The patient went from struggling with more than 30 epileptic episodes a month to zero just a month after being dosed with the experimental drug, and she was crying on TV. Her life was completely changed. Before, she couldn’t play with her grandchildren, drive a car, or go on walks—and that has completely shifted. Today, Neurona has dosed around 15 patients so far, and most of them have had a transformational response to the drug.”

Chiu’s Pearls of Wisdom

From the classroom to the venture capital industry, Chiu recognized that his ability to absorb new information in any environment has been invaluable throughout his journey. 

“Try to be a sponge in every room you walk into, whether it’s interesting to you or not—just try to absorb whatever you can. You never know what’s going to be useful, and this has served me well. Always try to be the dumbest person in the room and take the opportunity to learn from the people around you.”

When asked about what keeps him motivated and excited about his work in venture capital, Dylan noted the interesting conversations with the next generation of innovators, passionate about solving a problem with real human impact.

“It’s the people who are dedicating their lives to a problem. Some of the most brilliant people in the world, whether they’re Nobel Prize Laureates, researchers, PhDs, postdocs, or even undergrads, have spent a significant amount of time thinking about a problem. When they’re spending time with you, teaching you about their problem and their world, that is as gratifying as ever.”

Investing in the Future

In the next decade, Chiu hopes to continue his dedication to the growth of the Berkeley Frontier Fund and establish a greater sense of confidence in the venture-philanthropy model. 

“We would want the Berkeley Frontier Fund and other funds like ours to get larger so that we can reach the goal of contributing to a meaningful portion of Berkeley’s operating budget ($100-200 million per year). We don’t know how long it will take, as we are still proving our model, but that’s the vision we have for our fund and what we are all working towards.”

To Chiu, success means being able to support and invest in the next generation of Berkeley entrepreneurs. 

“Success for us looks like being able to invest in the top 1% of Berkeley companies, the best companies that come out of Berkeley. We hope that we’ll be able to be a part of their story.”