Co-Founder in Residence, Passive Air Mineralisation
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 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.
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 global challenge of CO2 conversion and ex-situ storage.
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
There is an urgent need to remove and store billions of tons (Gt) of CO2 from our atmosphere. There has been a wide range of Direct Air Capture (DAC) technologies (100-200 startups) which aim to capture CO2 for $100 per tonne, however, the current market average is $690 per tonne. Lower-cost methods do exist, such as Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) which averages at $370 per tonne, although these methods are constrained by slow kinetics and expensive Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV). We believe there is a new class of CDR technologies which lie at the interface of these two pathways, by integrating CO2 capture from air with mineralisation processes which have the potential to reach $100 per tonne for DAC in the next 10 years.
The Approach: Passive Air Mineralisation
We have been developing a technology which integrates CO2 capture from air with mineralisation, bypassing the need for energy-intensive regeneration, compression, and transport of CO2. We aim to be at the forefront of a new wave of engineered CDR approaches which lower the cost of engineered CDR with durable, verifiable carbonate storage above ground.
Requirements
Who Should Apply
Most suitable candidates will likely meet multiple of the following criteria:
- PhD or equivalent industry R&D know-how in chemistry or geochemistry, with a particular focus on mineralisation processes
- In-depth knowledge of state-of-the-art (SOTA) technologies and constraints in CO2 mineralisation, sustainable construction materials production, or geochemical CDR
- Broad knowledge in CO2 logistics and transportation infrastructure;
- Industry-specific know-how, commercial knowledge (e.g. strategic partnerships, manufacturing, procurement etc.) and network within the carbon market and related industries;
- Experience in building and scaling new technologies from concept to demonstration;
- Experience in raising funds from early-stage investors/VC;
- Experience in building and scaling a high-growth enterprise (leadership/c-suite roles).
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.