Put simply, equity in a company ("shareholder equity") represents ownership of a share of a company (hence "shares"). In the most simple example possible: if you have 50 shares of a business with 100 shares (and no debt), you would have 50% equity in that company.
Getting the equity split right at the beginning of the company formation is crucial to the success of a business. Please speak to a member of the Monash Innovation team for more information and advice.
If you want to understand more about the factors that go into equity allocation in startups, check out this article for some ideas on founder splits, bearing in mind the University may hold some equity in exchange for the licence to the IP.
