Commercial Co-founder, Eliminating toxicity from food contact materials

We are launching a new venture dedicated to eliminating toxic chemicals from our food supply and the environment. Our primary mission is to eliminate Bisphenol A (BPA) – a pervasive endocrine disruptor linked to the reproductive health crisis.

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

Despite its known toxicity, 10 million tons of BPA are produced annually for use in everything from food packaging to high-performance composites. We are disrupting this status quo by replacing BPA-based adhesives and coatings with our proprietary, biobased, high-performance, ensuring safety without compromising product performance. Safe food and a clean environment should not be a luxury.

We are recruiting a Co-Founder with a strong commercial background - ideally in food contact packaging coatings and adhesives - and a track record in entrepreneurship, including fundraising. The interior coatings of food and beverage cans have been identified as a major route of human exposure to bisphenols and will be our primary focus. Experience in food and beverage cans is preferred.

The role is full-time, remote initially until venture incorporation and spin-out (circa end of Q2 2026), location TBD.

Dr. Robert Fleming is a distinguished scientist and serial entrepreneur dedicated to the intersection of advanced materials and global sustainability. With a career spanning foundational roles at 3M Corporation to executive leadership at Zymergen and CLEARink Displays, Robert has spent over two decades developing and scaling new products and technologies to high-volume.

Since 2020, Robert has pivoted his focus toward the circular economy, championing biobased chemistries that replace toxic legacy materials. At DSV, he is leading a critical mission to eliminate harmful chemicals from food-contact materials.

A prolific inventor with over 60 issued U.S. patents, Robert holds a PhD in Polymer Science from the University of Massachusetts and continues to advise high-growth startups in the optics, nanoscience, and polymer 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.

To learn more about the collaborative work that led to this opportunity area, please see report - "The Invisible Tsunami".

The Role:

This is a deeply hands-on role: as Commercial Co-Founder, you will own the venture’s commercial strategy and execution from day one. Working hand-in-hand with the technical founder, you will:

• Validate market demand and define target segments;
• Build early customer, supplier, and strategic partnerships;
• Secure commercial proof points (LOIs, MOUs, offtake pathways);
• Support or lead fundraising from VCs.

Must-Have Experience:

• Previous experience in either a startup/early-stage company environment or leading commercial scale-up in a relevant industrial setting (or both);
• Experience in adhesives, coatings markets and food packaging is a strong plus;
• A track record in fundraising from VC, grant writing, grant management and building commercial partnerships;
• Exposure to regulatory processes for industrial chemicals/materials (ideally battery-related).

Essential Capabilities:

• Lead customer discovery to identify and prioritise target markets, building relationships from initial outreach through to binding offtake agreements, and refining value proposition based on market feedback;
• Co-develop and maintain techno-economic models, pricing strategy, financial models, and lead commercial negotiations and contract structuring;
• Lead fundraising efforts with commercial due diligence materials, building investor relationships and communicating commercial progress;
• Demonstrated B2B and B2C sales and business development experience, ideally in materials, chemicals or related industrial sectors, with a track record from cold outreach to signed agreements;
• Willingness to operate across strategic and administrative tasks with resilience, strong self-direction and ability to thrive in uncertain environments;
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to build credibility across diverse stakeholders, present to senior executives and investors, and work collaboratively with a technical co-founder;
• Ability to recruit and lead team members as the company grows, with a desire to build and scale an organistion aligned with company mission and values.

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 or 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.
• DSV and Grantham Foundation's extensive network incl. leaders of biotech VCs, technical & commercial domain expertise, and wide-ranging  portfolio company capabilities.
• We jointly provide an initial £250k (~$340k / €290k) investment governed by our Investment Committee to incorporate the new venture and develop early proof-of-concept data that is often needed to attract high profile non-venture studio VCs. This funding is also key for obtaining grant funding, which often needs to be matched with private investment.
• You and your co-founder(s) together will own the majority equity stake in the company.
• We provide minimum guaranteed income of £4,166 per month (fixed), paid to each Founder as a consultancy fee until the company is launched and pre-seed investment is secured.
• We provide continuous support post spin-out, including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment and team-building (amongst other things). 
• Other Founders currently at DSV across sectors working collaboratively and supporting one another - a unique resource to draw on.

Salary : $4,166