Co-Founder in Residence, Regenerative Soil & Land Restoration (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 Agriculture

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 addressing the regenerative soil and land restoration opportunity area.

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, initially remote (can work from anywhere) with possible relocation once the new venture is incorporated.

The Opportunity Area

The world grows 95% of its food in the uppermost layer of soil, making topsoil one of the essential components of our food system. Unfortunately, due to conventional farming practices, nearly half of the world's topsoil has disappeared in the last 150 years, threatening crop yields and food security, and contributing to nutrient pollution, oceanic dead zones, and erosion. Historically, degraded soils are "remediated" by applying harsh agrochemical regimes to increase profits, or degraded lands are abandoned, leading to expansion into new areas and driving deforestation. Recently, there have been initiatives to restore topsoils, including cover cropping, polyculture, environmentally friendly fertilisers, pesticides, and biostimulants, and, in some instances, alternating animal grazing. Still, wide adoption of these techniques can be met with resistance since the process to regenerate topsoil takes time, and farm profit projections may even decrease in the short-term. If we could find strategies to accelerate the formation of good quality topsoil and avoid erosion, it would facilitate the easy adoption of regenerative practices in current agriculture and it may serve as a venue to contribute to ecosystem restoration efforts.

Our Approach

We’re currently building an outcomes graph, working backwards from the desired high level outcomes:

• accelerate the building of quality topsoil;
• reduce erosion rate;
• enhance nutrient uptake; and
• eliminate pollutants faster than conventional methods in farmland and degraded soils.

Requirements

Who Should Apply

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

• In-depth knowledge of state of the art (SOTA) technologies and constraints in at least one of the following areas: humic substance production, soil metabolic processes, soil organic compound accumulation, inorganic nutrients availability and cycling, habilitation and remediation strategies for contaminated soils (i.e. mine tailings), or similar;
• PhD or equivalent industry R&D know-how focused on: soil science, microbiology, ecology, agronomy, plant sciences, biological engineering or similar;
• Broad knowledge in at least one of the following: soil restoration, soil health, soil biome (microbes and invertebrates), biogeochemistry, soil ecology or agronomy;
• Industry-specific know-how and commercial knowledge (e.g. forming strategic partnerships, agricultural value chains, procurement, etc.) especially with experience engaging directly with farmers and agribusiness;
• Proven track record of innovation, preferably with experience in startup ecosystems and fundraising;
• 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.