7 Co-Founder jobs in the United Kingdom

ABOUT THE ROLE

At DSV we’re looking for future Founders, entrepreneurially minded individuals with industry-specific technical and commercial domain expertise eager to solve urgent unmet challenges through venture building.

You will join DSV’s venture creation programme as a Founder in Residence and work closely with the DSV team, using our methodology , to spin-out a new company. During the programme, you’ll work on all aspects related to venture creation in this opportunity area, including working out the optimal approach to solve for the desired outcome, building a team and building a viable business case. Once the new venture is incorporated with pre-seed investment from DSV, you and your co-founders will own the majority stake in the business and continue receiving support from the DSV team post-spinout.

The role is full-time, fully remote until venture incorporation and spin-out, after - TBD.

THE OPPORTUNITY AREA

Over 6 million individuals live with Parkinson’s disease (PD) today, and this number is projected to reach 12 million globally by 2040 as populations age. Whilst current therapies do offer symptomatic relief from debilitating motor symptoms, no clinically approved drug intervenes at root cause, meaning disease progression cannot be prevented. In addition, emerging therapeutics which show great promise in animal models of PD often fail to translate in the clinical setting, with even the most successful clinical trials reporting incremental benefit, often capped by dose limiting toxicity. 

To address this, we are partnering with Parkinson’s UK to develop precise, next generation therapies which target true disease modifying nodes in previously unimagined ways. As PD is a multi-pathway pathology, spanning oxidative stress, impaired autophagy, mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammation, the efficacy of single pathway approaches is constrained. 

OUR APPROACH 

We are designing a  therapeutic approach that will target master homeostatic regulators which can simultaneously correct numerous PD pathways, changing the course of disease. We believe this has the potential to transform patient lives by slowing, halting or even reversing disease progression. This pathway has been the focus of drug development in the past but not been drugged successfully through classic approaches. We are looking to unlock this through the use of novel modalities and a clever target selection and targeting strategy that has the potential to overcome the many feedback looks regulating this pathway. 

Requirements

WHO SHOULD APPLY

Essential (must-have):

• PhD in neuroscience or other field relevant to the project;
• Extensive, systems-level knowledge of Parkinson’s disease, including at the cellular and molecular level;
• Expertise in oxidative stress and/or neuroprotective pathways; 
• Experience in cellular, molecular and/or biochemical approaches to drug discovery for CNS disorders;
• Experience working in biotech/pharma or an alternative setting which requires strong commercial awareness and understanding of the drug development process;
• Entrepreneurial spirit, likely demonstrated through impactful innovation;
• You are innovative, creative, and guided by first-principles thinking;
• You are highly motivated to create curative solutions for PD patients.

Preferred (nice-to-have):

• Broad knowledge of brain-specific drug delivery techniques;
• Experience in nucleic acid based payloads (ASO/siRNA/DNA) and delivery techniques;
• Track record of high quality publications in the field, or thought leadership in the field;
• High level industry experience in either pharma, biotech, scientific start-ups, life sciences consulting, life sciences VC, or have previously been an inventor/contributor on patents, etc.;
• Fundraising experience at seed and Series A stages, with established investor contacts.

Benefits

OUR OFFER

By joining DSV, you’ll be joining a team of operators who have founded companies and led translation of science at some of the most respected universities, charities, funds and government agencies. 2/3 of the team have founded or led a company at C-suite and 65% have a PhD. Our team dedicate several hours every week to each Founder/founding team to provide tailored guidance, resources and feedback covering every aspect of what it takes to successfully launch a new venture from both the tech and commercial perspectives:

• We provide optimised, purpose-built, proprietary tools, resources and processes to help create high-impact ventures from scratch, using our venture creation methodology;
• We draw on opportunity area specific know-how provided by our Partner organisation - Parkinson's UK - working collaboratively with their team of experts and Advisors;
• We provide £250k launch investment (subject to  Investment Committee approval) to incorporate the new venture and develop early proof-of-concept data that’s needed to attract high profile VCs as well as non-dilutive grant funding;
• We provide guaranteed income of £4,166 per month paid to each Founder-in-Residence as a fixed consultancy fee until the company is launched and the pre-seed investment is secured;
• You and the current Founder-in-Residence, together with any additional co-founders, will collectively own a majority equity stake in the company;
• We provide continuous support after post spin-out, including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment and team-building (amongst other things); plus
• There are dozens of Founders currently at DSV across sectors working collaboratively and supporting one another - a unique resource to draw on.

WHO YOU'LL BE JOINING

You will be joining Dr. Kiren Baines-Mortimore, an accomplished scientific leader with many years of experience across drug discovery and development. Kiren, is the former co-founder and CSO at Extracellular, a cultivated meat CDMO. Prior to founding Extracellular, Kiren was the Analytical Development and Quality Control Lead at eXmoor Pharma,where she supported clients in the cell and gene therapy sector with process and analytical development, manufacturing, and commercialization. Earlier in her career, Kiren contributed to drug discovery initiatives at Charles River Laboratories. Kiren earned her PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Bristol. Kiren’s background in Parkinson’s combined with her expertise in drug development, along with her outstanding professionalism and ambition, makes her a top talent to work with. 

ABOUT DSV

Deep Science Ventures is creating a future in which both humans and the planet can thrive. 

We use our unique venture creation process to create, spin-out and invest into science companies, combining available scientific knowledge and founder-type scientists into high-impact ventures. 

We operate in 4 sectors: Pharmaceuticals, Climate, Agriculture and Computation, tackling the challenges defining those areas by taking a first principles approach and partnering with leading institutions.

ABOUT OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH PARKINSON'S UK

In a landmark collaboration that marries scientific prowess with an unwavering dedication to improving patient lives, Deep Science Ventures, an avant-garde venture creator headquartered in London, has announced a pioneering partnership with Parkinson’s UK , the leading charity driving better care, treatments, and quality of life for those affected by Parkinson’s.

This strategic alliance is set to merge DSV’s unique invention method with Parkinson’s UK’s rich insights into patient care, igniting the creation of a new, dedicated company. The aim is to propel the most innovative and efficient therapeutic approach into real-world application, funded by the transformative Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech initiative - Parkinson’s UK investment arm.

We're on the lookout for entrepreneurial individuals with technical and commercial domain expertise with keen interest in founding, and building a global scale, impact driven, high growth company from ground up.

We are seeking applications from experienced industry, startup and/or new science or engineering based technology development professionals from anywhere in the world to work with us on the next generation of plastics recycling.

You’ll work closely with the DSV team and the current Founder in Residence for this area to co-found and spin-out a new company. Once the new venture is incorporated with pre-seed investment from DSV, you and your co-founder(s) will own the majority stake in the business and continue receiving support from the DSV team post-spinout.

The role is full-time, remote initially until venture incorporation and spin-out (circa Q1 2026).

Given their ubiquity, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that polymers are some of the most useful materials that exist. They are tough, chemically resistant, and have great barrier properties. This trifecta of properties make them ideal packaging materials. These properties make polymers incredibly durable, and resistant to degradation.

This durability poses a unique problem after we have finished using plastics - the end of life . We produce ~400 MT of plastics every year, and almost none of these plastics will degrade.

Currently, 80% of chemicals generated from crude oil are used in the production of plastics. As we mentioned, ~90% of these materials are “once through” and are not used in their end of life. A recent report predicts that 70% of new oil demand growth will be the result of demand in chemicals, not fuels .

Currently, plastics are responsible for 3.3% of annual CO2 emissions. However, their use and production is increasing rapidly. We produce 200 times more plastic now than we did in 1950, and we’re projected to double again in the next 25 years. By 2050, plastics could be responsible to ~7Gt of CO2 every year.

So if we want to avoid drilling for more oil and gas and we want to stop plastic waste from polluting the world, the solution appears simple: make new plastic from old plastic. However, today’s dominant recycling method - mechanical recycling - downgrades plastic properties, leading eventually to downcycling, and is only suitable for well sorted feeds. This leaves chemical recycling to pick up the pieces.

The potential to generate feedstocks from waste polymers is well understood and established, but the majority of companies are currently generating fuels and feedstocks, not chemicals. To leverage the potential of waste plastic as a valuable resource, we have to make something valuable from it.

Hence, we see the value in this opportunity lying in the capability to generate high-value chemical products from plastic waste, working toward meeting the growing chemical demands of the world.

Specifically, we aim to achieve this by developing a new kind of chemical recycling. The current generation of chemical recycling reactors are constrained inherently by their design:

• Long residence times promote the formation high molecular weight products, reducing valuable chemical feedstocks like olefins and promoting the formation of toxics like polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
• Major products are not inherently useful as chemical feedstocks. Approximately 60% are useful as fuels, and 30% have to be processed again to produce something chemically useful.

We are developing the first commercial plastic cracker that will directly convert plastic waste to mixed olefin gas. Our approach targets converting waste polyolefins into over three times as many (~70%, polypop vs ~15%, chemical recycling + steam cracking) high value chemicals per ton of plastic processed for half of the energy .

Currently waste plastic is trash, but with the right technology? It is a treasure. In a world where waste plastic is a valuable resource we flip the paradigm on its head.

Requirements

• Deep industry experience in olefins business, including market knowledge, production processes, and commercialisation strategies OR equivalent experience in the waste plastics industry;

• Expertise in extrusion and polymer processing technologies;
• Prior knwoeldge of current approaches and state-of-the-art technologies, constraints, and opportunities for improvement in one or more of the following areas:
• Chemical recycling systems - Design, performance, and optimisation of chemical recycling from a process level perspective. Deep understanding of the contaminants and their subsequent interactions in chemical recycling;
• Opportunities for efficiency improvements – Automation, sensor integration, real-time monitoring, and AI-driven analytics for continuous processes improvement, analytics, and decision-making;

• Proven track record of developing, building, and scaling innovative chemical technologies from conceptual stage through to demonstration and pilot-scale operations;
• Demonstrated success in securing funding from venture capital, early-stage investors, grants and project finance sources;
• Strong leadership skills with experience managing complex projects and coordinating cross-functional teams effectively;

• PhD or equivalent industry R&D experience in industrial design and/or fabrication, automation and control systems engineering, or electrical heating is a plus.

Benefits

By joining DSV, you will be part of a team of operators who have founded companies and led the translation of science at some of the most respected universities, charities, funds, and government agencies. Here’s what we offer:

• Access to optimised, purpose-built, proprietary tools, resources, and processes to help create high-impact ventures from scratch;
• Opportunity area-specific know-how from our network of Partners and Advisors;
• Up to £250k in investment to incorporate the new venture and develop early proof-of-concept data;
• Guaranteed income of £4,166 per month paid as a fixed consultancy fee until the company is launched and the pre-seed investment is secured;
• Majority equity stake in the new company between you and your co-founder(s);
• Continuous post-spinout support, including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment, and team-building;
• Collaborative support from dozens of Founders currently at DSV across sectors.

Deep Science Ventures (DSV) is on a mission to create a future in which both humans and the planet can thrive. We use our unique venture creation process to create, spin-out, and invest in science companies, combining available scientific knowledge and founder-type scientists into high-impact ventures. Operating in four sectors—Pharmaceuticals, Climate, Agriculture, and Computation—we tackle the challenges defining these areas by taking a first principles approach and partnering with leading institutions.

This is an open application for expressions of interest. Hiring for the role will begin in Q3 2024.

Join Us as a Founder in Residence Climate

We're on the lookout for entrepreneurial individuals with technical and commercial domain expertise with keen interest in founding, and building a global scale, impact driven, high growth company from ground up (full-time).

We are seeking applications from experienced industry, startup and/or new science or engineering based technology development professionals from anywhere in the world to work with us on methane removal from air.

You’ll work closely with the DSV team and the current Founder in Residence for this area to co-found and spin-out a new company. Once the new venture is incorporated with pre-seed investment from DSV, you and your co-founders will own the majority stake in the business and continue receiving support from the DSV team post-spinout.

The role is full-time and fully remote until venture incorporation and spin-out (circa spring/summer 2025). 

The Opportunity

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, with around 80 x the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year timescale. Year-on-year increases in the atmospheric concentration of methane, driven by anthropogenic activities and by the effect of a warming climate on natural systems, are responsible for around 30% of the current rise in global temperature.

If methane could be removed from the air within emissions plumes, or from air in the ambient atmosphere, it might be possible to slow or reverse the trend of increasing methane concentrations. To date, key technical and commercial constraints have limited progress towards this target: atmospheric concentrations of methane are extremely low (2 ppm), methane emissions plumes (while higher in concentration) are distributed over disparate sources, and current measurement capabilities are often insufficient to verify offsetting activities. 

A technology that can effectively remove methane from atmospheric or emissions-plume air must therefore be implementable at low concentrations, across multiple sources, and must be verifiable. If these requirements can be met, the resulting technology would transform our ability to remove methane from air, and by extension our ability to limit further temperature rise related to methane.

Our Approach

Using DSV’s unique scoping methodology, we have begun to systematically map the solution space to identify technologies capable of removing methane from atmospheric or emissions-plume air. This mapping identifies the principle constraints holding back current approaches to methane - concentration, diverse sources, and verification - and, through first-principles thinking, converts these constraints into spaces for radical new innovation.

Requirements

Who Should Apply

Most suitable candidates will likely meet most of the following criteria:

• PhD or equivalent industry R&D know-how focused on: inorganic/physical chemistry; physics; environmental, chemical or mechanical engineering; materials science; atmospheric (geo)chemistry; or similar;
• Broad understanding of current approaches and state-of-the-art (SOTA) technologies, and constraints relevant for this opportunity area;
• Previously led or managed commercial delivery of an innovative biotech, engineering, industrial, or hardware technology venture with broad understanding of technical product development and R&D commercialisation;
• Industry-specific know-how and commercial knowledge (e.g. forming strategic partnerships, industrial value chains, procurement, etc.) relevant for this opportunity area;
• Experience in startup ecosystems and fundraising (via venture capital, private equity, grants or funds);
• Strong entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to translate scientific discoveries into commercial opportunities, ideally with experience conducting techno-economic analyses and market assessments;
• Experience of working in a leadership role, applying project management and collaborative skills with colleagues across different teams.

Benefits

Our Offer

By joining DSV, you will be part of a team of operators who have founded companies and led the translation of science at some of the most respected universities, charities, funds, and government agencies. Here’s what we offer:

• Access to optimised, purpose-built, proprietary tools, resources, and processes to help create high-impact ventures from scratch;
• Opportunity area-specific know-how from our network of Partners and Advisors;
• Up to £250k in investment to incorporate the new venture and develop early proof-of-concept data;
• Guaranteed income of £4,166 per month paid as a consultancy fee until the company is launched and the pre-seed investment is secured;
• Majority equity stake in the new company for you and your co-founders;
• Continuous post-spinout support, including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment, and team-building;
• Collaborative support from dozens of Founders currently at DSV across sectors.

About DSV

Deep Science Ventures is creating a future in which both humans and the planet can thrive.

We use our unique venture creation process to create, spin-out and invest into science companies, combining available scientific knowledge and founder-type scientists into high-impact ventures.

We operate in 4 sectors: Pharmaceuticals, Climate, Agriculture and Computation, tackling the challenges defining those areas by taking a first principles approach and partnering with leading institutions.

This opportunity is funded by the Grantham Foundation, a 501(c)(3) private foundation whose mission is to protect and conserve the natural environment. The Grantham Foundation communicates the risks of climate change and environmental degradation, builds collaboration and alliances between like-minded groups and individuals, and invests in philanthropic and entrepreneurial missions to create new climate solutions.