Commercial Co-Founder of a Deep Tech spin-off

Commercial Co-Founder – Deep Tech
DEEP Pioneers – Where world-class research meets serial execution
The Opportunity
Have you built, scaled or commercialised technology businesses — and are you interested in building again around breakthrough research?
DEEP Pioneers is looking for experienced entrepreneurs, operators and commercial leaders interested in joining research-based deep-tech ventures as commercial co-founders.
Our current portfolio brings together technologies and scientific teams from universities and research organisations across the DACH region, with ventures spanning areas such as:
biotech and life sciences;
diagnostics and healthcare;
advanced materials and chemistry;
energy and climate technologies;
AI and software;
cybersecurity; and
industrial and research-based technologies.
We are looking for entrepreneurial people who can complement strong scientific and technical founders and take ownership of the commercial side of company building.
You do not need to be a scientist. You need to be able to work effectively with scientists and technical founders, understand complex technologies and turn their potential into customers, partnerships, financing and ultimately a scalable company.
Who We Are Looking For
We are particularly interested in people with 12+ years of exp as:
serial entrepreneurs ready to build again;
founders who have previously built or scaled technology companies;
experienced CEOs, CCOs, CBOs, COOs and commercial executives;
startup and scale-up operators ready to step into a founder role;
industry leaders who have built new businesses, products or business units inside larger organisations; and
experienced commercial leaders with strong sector expertise and an entrepreneurial track record of 12+ yrs.
Relevant experience may include:
founding, building or scaling a company;
taking a technology or product from zero to market;
commercial leadership, business development or go-to-market;
B2B and enterprise sales;
customer discovery and market validation;
strategic partnerships and corporate development;
fundraising and investor relations;
building teams and organisations;
working in technical, scientific or regulated markets; and
translating complex technology into a compelling commercial proposition.
You do not need to fit every criterion or come from a traditional startup background.
What matters is a strong track record of building, the ability to operate under uncertainty and a genuine motivation to become a commercial co-founder alongside scientists and technical founders.
What You Could Build
Depending on the venture and founding-team constellation, 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;
building early customer and commercial partnerships;
shaping product and commercial strategy alongside the technical founders;
developing pricing and sales channels;
shaping the fundraising and financing strategy;
translating complex technology into compelling customer and investor propositions;
building the commercial organisation; and
helping form and build the company alongside the scientific or technical founders.
The precise founder role and responsibilities are 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 the DEEP Pioneers venture portfolio and further information about the 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.
You can express interest in more than one venture. Initial preferences help us identify promising founder-team constellations rather than determining a final match.
3. Founder-matching offsite
Selected scientists and entrepreneurs meet in person to explore different 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.
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