Co-Founder (gn) @ Natural Rubber Venture, Wageningen (NL)

About Naraxa

Naraxa is a plant biotech startup on a mission to secure the future of natural rubber,
one of the world's most critical and irreplaceable raw materials. Based in Wageningen, we are engineering new plant production systems that enable large-scale, domestic production of natural rubber, breaking a century-old dependence on tropical supply chains.
Backed by FoodLabs, we combine cutting-edge gene editing with deep crop science expertise to unlock high-performance rubber production in temperate climates.
Our goal: a sovereign, scalable, and sustainable alternative to conventional rubber sourcing.

What Success Looks Like in the First Months

• You have taken ownership of Naraxa's business strategy, translating our scientific roadmap into a clear operational plan with defined milestones and accountability structures.

• You have set up and optimized core financial and operational processes, ensuring efficient execution of daily activities across a lean, early-stage organization.

• You are actively shaping our fundraising narrative and building relationships with investors, strongly positioning Naraxa for future funding rounds and with strategic partners.

• You have played a pivotal role in building a high-performing team and fostering a strong company culture aligned with Naraxa's mission and values.

• You have partnered closely with the technical leaders to ensure that R&D priorities, timelines, and resource allocation are tightly aligned with commercial and fundraising objectives.

What You Need to Succeed:

• A founder's mindset. You're energized by ambiguity, ready to build from zero, and motivated by the opportunity to shape a company at its earliest stage.

• Proven experience in operational management, financial oversight, or regulatory compliance, ideally in agriculture, biotech, or advanced materials.

• Expertise in building and scaling teams, fostering a high-performance culture, and making critical hiring decisions in a resource-constrained environment.

• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to bridge the gap between deep-tech R&D and commercial strategy.

• A genuine passion for building something that matters, paired with the adaptability and resilience to thrive in a fast-moving startup.

What We Offer:

• A unique opportunity to co-found a company addressing a strategic bottleneck in global commodities, building Europe's first sovereign supply of natural rubber.

• A dynamic and entrepreneurial work environment dedicated to sustainable agriculture and supply chain resilience.

• The chance to work alongside a highly motivated team committed to building a new pillar of global rubber supply.

• Competitive compensation package, including co-founding equity stake in the company.

• Institutional backing from FoodLabs, one of Europe's most active agri-food VCs.