Co-Founder in Residence, Avert Methane Emissions from Biomass (Open Application)

This is an open application for expressions of interest. Hiring for the role will begin later this year.

Join Us as a Founder in Residence in 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 preventing methane emissions from biomass.

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 summer/autumn 2025). 

The Opportunity

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, with around 80 x the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year timescale. Globally-accelerating rates of methane emission, 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. 

To date, carbon dioxide emissions have received far more attention than methane emissions. However, because atmospheric methane concentrations respond ~ 10 times as quickly to emissions reduction when compared to carbon dioxide, methane is just as - if not more - important in limiting near-term warming to < 2°C. 

Around 75% of global methane emissions originate from active biomass fermentation within natural systems, agricultural practices and waste streams, making this process a critical target for emissions prevention. However, the nature of methane emissions from biomass fermentation makes technological intervention challenging: fermentative sources typically produce diffuse, low-concentration emissions, often distributed over wide areas and across disparate environments. A technology that can effectively prevent these emissions must therefore be implementable at low concentrations, across wide areas in multiple environments, and without causing negative externalities in any one of these environments.

If these requirements can be met, the resulting technology would transform our ability to prevent methane emissions from biomass fermentation at scale, 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 methane emissions prevention from biomass fermentation. This mapping identifies the principle constraints holding back current approaches to emissions prevention - concentration, disparate environments, and externalities - 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: (bio)geochemistry; environmental chemistry; environmental or chemical engineering; biochemistry; biotechnology; 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 in 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 co-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.