Co-founder in Residence

Summary

Join Deep Science Ventures (DSV) as a Founder in Residence to build a new company focused on developing next-generation therapies for Parkinson's disease. Collaborate with the DSV team and Parkinson's UK to create a viable business case and attract pre-seed investment. Work on all aspects of venture creation, including defining the optimal approach, building a team, and securing funding. The role is initially fully remote and offers a guaranteed monthly income. After incorporation and spin-out, you and your co-founders will own the majority stake in the new venture, with continued support from DSV. DSV provides resources, tools, and mentorship to help launch successful ventures.

Requirements

• PhD in neuroscience or other field relevant to the project
• Extensive, systems-level knowledge of Parkinson’s disease, including at the cellular and molecular level
• Expertise in oxidative stress and/or neuroprotective pathways
• Experience in cellular, molecular and/or biochemical approaches to drug discovery for CNS disorders
• Experience working in biotech/pharma or an alternative setting which requires strong commercial awareness and understanding of the drug development process
• Entrepreneurial spirit, likely demonstrated through impactful innovation
• You are innovative, creative, and guided by first-principles thinking
• You are highly motivated to create curative solutions for PD patients

Responsibilities

• Develop precise, next generation therapies which target true disease modifying nodes in previously unimagined ways
• Work on all aspects related to venture creation in this opportunity area, including working out the optimal approach to solve for the desired outcome, building a team and building a viable business case
• 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

Preferred Qualifications

• Broad knowledge of brain-specific drug delivery techniques
• Experience in nucleic acid based payloads (ASO/siRNA/DNA) and delivery techniques
• Track record of high quality publications in the field, or thought leadership in the field
• High level industry experience in either pharma, biotech, scientific start-ups, life sciences consulting, life sciences VC, or have previously been an inventor/contributor on patents, etc
• Fundraising experience at seed and Series A stages, with established investor contacts

Benefits

• We provide optimised, purpose-built, proprietary tools, resources and processes to help create high-impact ventures from scratch, using our venture creation methodology
• We draw on opportunity area specific know-how provided by our Partner organisation - Parkinson's UK - working collaboratively with their team of experts and Advisors
• We provide £250k launch investment (subject to Investment Committee approval) to incorporate the new venture and develop early proof-of-concept data that’s needed to attract high profile VCs as well as non-dilutive grant funding
• We provide guaranteed income of £4,166 per month paid to each Founder-in-Residence as a fixed consultancy fee until the company is launched and the pre-seed investment is secured
• You and the current Founder-in-Residence, together with any additional co-founders, will collectively own a majority equity stake in the company
• We provide continuous support after post spin-out, including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment and team-building (amongst other things); plus
• There are dozens of Founders currently at DSV across sectors working collaboratively and supporting one another - a unique resource to draw on