Commercial Co-Founder – Biotech & Life Science Tools

Commercial Co-Founder
DEEP Pioneers – Where world-class research meets serial execution
The Opportunity
Have you built or commercialised businesses in biotech, life-science tools, diagnostics, pharmaceutical R&D, oncology or adjacent markets?
DEEP Pioneers is supporting an emerging biotech spin-off developing functional live-cell assays for oncology research, drug development and potential future diagnostic applications.
We are looking for an experienced commercial entrepreneur or operator interested in joining the venture as a co-founder and working alongside the scientific team to identify the strongest initial market and build the commercial pathway around the technology.
Potential applications being explored include:
oncology research and life-science tools;
drug discovery and development;
treatment-resistance research;
pharmaceutical and translational research;
patient stratification; and
potential future diagnostic applications.
The scientific team brings deep expertise in cellular biology, lipid metabolism and assay development. The commercial challenge is determining where the technology creates the greatest customer value and turning that opportunity into a scalable life-science company.
Who We Are Looking For
We are particularly interested in experienced entrepreneurs and operators with backgrounds in areas such as:
biotechnology or life-science tools;
oncology and translational research;
diagnostics or molecular assays;
pharmaceutical R&D;
laboratory technologies and research products;
drug discovery and development; or
adjacent scientific B2B markets.
Relevant experience may include:
founding, building or scaling a company;
commercial leadership, business development or go-to-market;
B2B sales to laboratories, biotech companies or pharmaceutical R&D teams;
customer discovery and market-entry strategy;
strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical or life-science companies;
building recurring commercial revenue from scientific products or services;
fundraising and investor relations; and
translating scientific technology into a commercial proposition.
You do not need to fit every criterion. We are looking for entrepreneurial people who can complement a strong scientific founding team and take ownership of the commercial side of company building.
What You Could Build
As a prospective commercial co-founder, you could take responsibility for:
identifying and validating the strongest initial market;
leading customer discovery;
developing the business model and go-to-market strategy;
establishing pharmaceutical, research and commercial partnerships;
developing pricing, distribution and recurring-revenue models;
shaping the fundraising and financing strategy;
translating the scientific platform into a compelling customer and investor proposition; and
helping form and build the company alongside the scientific founders.
The precise founder role and responsibilities will be shaped together based on the needs of the venture and the complementary strengths of the founding team.
How DEEP Pioneers Works
DEEP Pioneers is the venture-building programme at ESMT Berlin's Institute for Deep Tech Innovation.
We bring experienced entrepreneurs and operators together with scientists and research-based technologies to form complementary deep-tech founding teams.
The process includes:
1. Venture exploration
Shortlisted entrepreneurs receive further information about the highlighted venture and the wider DEEP Pioneers cohort of research-based ventures currently looking for commercial co-founders.
2. Mutual preferences
Entrepreneurs and scientific teams express where there is genuine interest in exploring a potential founding relationship.
3. Founder-matching offsite
Selected scientists and entrepreneurs meet in person to explore team constellations, ambitions, working styles and co-founder fit.
4. Minimum Viable Team formation
Teams move forward where there is mutual commitment and complementary capabilities rather than being assigned or forced into a match.
5. Venture & team building
Newly forming teams receive structured high-performance team coaching for up to 6 months as they work toward company formation and their next commercial milestones.
This particular search is focused on the biotech, oncology and life-science-tools venture described above. As part of the DEEP Pioneers matching process, shortlisted entrepreneurs may also be introduced to other cohort ventures seeking commercial co-founders where there is relevant mutual interest.
About DEEP Pioneers
DEEP Pioneers works with scientists, research institutions, technology-transfer organisations and experienced entrepreneurs across the DACH ecosystem.
Our goal is to address one of deep tech's biggest early-stage bottlenecks: bringing together complementary scientific and commercial founders early enough to jointly shape the company, market and commercialisation pathway.
The next DEEP Pioneers founder-matching cycle takes place in mid-October 2026.
Interested?
Click Apply to complete a short application.
The application asks about your entrepreneurial track record, sector expertise, preferred role and motivation for becoming a deep-tech co-founder.
There is no fee to apply or participate in the recruitment and matching process.
Questions: deep.pioneers@esmt.org
Learn more about DEEP Pioneers through ESMT Berlin here: https://esmt.berlin/faculty-research/centers-institutes-initiatives/deep-institute-deep-tech-innovation/programs/deep

Work arrangement
Yes