Edric Guo

Edric Yi Guo is the Chief Executive Officer and Head of the Investment Banking Division at Univest Securities, LLC, a New York–based broker-dealer that has been registered with FINRA since 1994. He is described by the firm as one of its most active and versatile investment bankers, with a client base spanning both Asia-Pacific and North America. Over a career of more than 15 years in banking and capital markets, he has led transactions totaling over $1 billion, including private placements, IPOs, follow-on and registered direct offerings, SPACs, and mergers and acquisitions. Earlier in his tenure at Univest he served as Director of the Investment Banking Division and as Chief Operating Officer before stepping into the CEO role.

Guo holds dual Bachelor's degrees in Finance and Real Estate from the University of British Columbia and maintains FINRA Series 3, 7, 24, 66, 79, and 99 registrations. Under his leadership, Univest has transformed from a boutique into a full-service global banking and distribution platform covering investment banking, equity and debt capital markets, institutional and high-net-worth retail sales and trading, and equity research. The firm reports having raised over $1.7 billion in capital for issuers worldwide and completed roughly 100 transactions since 2019.

Beyond banking, Guo is active in education and philanthropy. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Forum for World Education (FWE), a nonprofit that promotes education as a vehicle for international diplomacy and cooperation, and has participated in cross-border education summits in New York. He made a personal donation of RMB 10 million (approximately USD 1.4 million) to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, reportedly becoming the largest individual donor in the university's history.

Note: while the stub data and some startup-investor databases (e.g., Foundersuite) classify Guo as an "angel investor" focused on seed rounds, the consistent primary sources describe him as an investment-banking executive and capital-markets dealmaker rather than a dedicated early-stage venture investor. No verified individual angel portfolio was found.

• Operates primarily through Univest Securities as an investment bank, financing and underwriting public and pre-public growth companies rather than writing classic seed angel checks.
• Strong emphasis on cross-border deals — helping Asia-Pacific (especially Chinese and broader Asian) companies access U.S. public markets via Nasdaq and NYSE listings.
• Transaction types span IPOs, follow-on offerings, registered direct offerings, private placements, equity line facilities, SPACs, and M&A advisory.
• Sector concentration in technology, life sciences, industrials, and consumer goods — the categories Univest cites across its ~100 completed deals.
• Decision driver: companies with a credible path to a U.S. public listing or that need capital-markets execution and global distribution, where Univest can act as lead underwriter or placement agent.