Abstract: The invention is a method for unlocking value held by universities in the preemptive rights of their startup companies. In one embodiment, universities assign their preemptive rights to an investment fund. The investment funds monitors the companies for follow-on rounds of investment and analyzes the companies to determine for which rounds the fund should exercise preemptive rights. The fund provides the capital necessary to exercise the preemptive rights. A method of practicing the invention using a computer system is also provided. In another embodiment, a university establishes an affiliate organization owned and controlled by the university which has the rights to exercise the preemptive rights using capital provided by such a fund. In another embodiment, the fund provides the universities a portion of the manager's fees in exchange for preemptive rights.