Founder in Residence, Eliminate Toxicity from Food Contact Materials

Join as a Founder in Residence in 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 toxicity elimination from food contact materials.

You'll work closely with the DSV team, using our methodology, to spin-out a new company. During the programme, you’ll 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.

The role is full-time, remote initially until venture incorporation and spin-out (circa summer/autumn 2026), location TBD.

About the Opportunity Area

We routinely assess the sugar, salt and fat content of foods, perhaps even artificial food additives. However, we seldom consider chemical contamination from the materials our food is grown, processed, transported, stored, and cooked in. We must. 

Food is a major source of several toxic chemicals which increase the incidence of health conditions such as cancer, infertility, and obesity.  These conditions, among others, are affecting a larger proportion of the population at younger ages: the global incidence of early onset cancer increased by 79 % between 1990 and 2019, the global average sperm count decreased by 52 % between 1973 and 2011, and the global rate of childhood obesity quadrupled between 1990 and 2022. 

To take one well known example: the epoxy resins which coat aluminium cans and the lids of glass jars are made using the endocrine disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA). BPA leaches from these linings and is found in some foods at concentrations hundreds of times higher than safe limits. Aside from its reproductive toxicity, BPA is linked to an increased risk of life threatening illnesses such as breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer, as well as increased likelihood of conditions reducing life quality such as obesity and ADHD. 

Unfortunately, BPA is only one of the thousands of synthetic chemicals leaching from food contact materials, many of which are also known to be hazardous, have insufficient hazard date, or even are added unintentionally.

We imagine a future where the food we eat doesn’t come with a hidden dose of toxins. This is the vision driving our venture creation in this opportunity space: to eliminate toxicity from food contact materials and safeguard the well-being of billions.

The Challenge:

• Direct human exposure: From farm to mouth, food comes into contact with numerous materials which leach toxins, contributing to continuous and unavoidable exposure.
• Supply chain complexity: Current food supply chains heavily rely on plastics and coatings which increase overall plastic demand and waste, generating microplastics contaminating our soils and waterways.
• Transition paradox: While shifting to non-plastic alternatives like glass, paper, or biodegradable polymers could reduce plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions, these materials often require coatings and additives that are themselves toxic, or come with other negative externalities such as high water or land usage.
• Recycling paradox: Conventional plastic recycling processes can exacerbate toxicity by contaminating recycled materials with non-food grade additives and generating microplastics.

Our Approach

Our preliminary scoping of the area indicate high potential to develop approaches across one or more of the desired high-level outcomes:

• Creating competitive alternatives to conventional plastics, such as non-toxic and degradable bioplastics for essential applications, rethinking how food is packaged, stored, and delivered;
• Developing advanced materials and technologies that combine scalability with environmental safety and circular economy principles;
• Innovating in supply chain redesign to reduce plastic reliance and transition to safer alternatives;
• Addressing the challenges of fluorosurfactants in food contact materials and developing safer alternatives;
• Pioneering non-toxic polymer additives and PFAS-free coatings for various applications.

Who We're Looking For

This isn’t just a job—it’s a chance to realise your own vision for venture creation in this space. We need a visionary founder to lead this charge—someone who's a problem-solver with a passion for this opportunity area, comfortable working across multiple scientific disciplines, with a track record that broadly covers most of the following criteria:

• Deep knowledge of polymers, bioplastics, or sustainable packaging, with experience developing non-toxic additives, coatings, or alternative materials (e.g. PhD or equivalent industry R&D experience in materials science, polymer chemistry, food process engineering, biotechnology, or related fields with a focus on sustainable materials);
• Comfortable working across chemistry, engineering and biology is a big plus;
• Deep understanding of the challenges surrounding plastic toxicity, food safety, and sustainable supply chains is a big plus;
• A proven track record of bringing new materials, products, or ventures to market, ideally in sustainability, food packaging, or related fields;
• Broad understanding of circular economy principles, life cycle assessment, and toxicology as applied to materials science is a big plus;
• Experience in developing and scaling new technologies from concept to demonstration in the materials or sustainability sector is a big plus;
• Experience in raising funds from early-stage investors/VC is a big plus;
• Strong grasp of market dynamics, consumer behaviour, and regulatory landscapes (e.g., FDA, EU food contact material standards);
• Experience forging relationships with suppliers, manufacturers, or other stakeholders within the value chain is a big plus;
• A relentless passion for eliminating toxicity from our food systems and the leadership to drive own vision for venture creation in this space.

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 fixed consultancy fee until the company is launched and the pre-seed investment is secured;
• Majority equity stake in the new company between  you and your co-founder(s);
• 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 (DSV) is on a mission to create a future in which both humans and the planet can thrive. We use our unique venture creation process to create, spin-out, and invest in science companies, combining available scientific knowledge and founder-type scientists into high-impact ventures. Operating in four sectors—Pharmaceuticals, Climate, Agriculture, and Computation—we tackle the challenges defining these areas by taking a first principles approach and partnering with leading institutions.