Founder in Residence

SPRING INNOVATION FUND – SPRING STUDIO

Founder in Residence

Location: Remote with travel as required
Type: Entrepreneurial Leadership Role
Stage: Venture Creation & Company Building

Spring Innovation Fund (“Spring”) is a venture studio building companies in the field of Animal Welfare Technologies. 

We're looking for founder-ready operators, domain experts, and entrepreneurs to join us as Founders in Residence.  As a Founder in Residence, you will lead the creation of a new Welfare Tech company from the ground up. 

The Opportunity: This is a full-time, paid position. Spring has allocated Pre-seed capital for startups that successfully launch out of its venture studio - with a standard investment check size of ~$500,000 (varies by company). 

We provide the foundational research, capital, strategic support, and ecosystem access. You bring the entrepreneurial drive, commercial leadership, and execution capability to transform a validated opportunity into a scalable, venture-backed business.

This is a hands-on leadership role spanning company formation, market development, fundraising, team building, strategic partnerships, and business growth. You will be responsible for shaping the company's business plan and direction, validating market demand, building key stakeholder relationships, and ultimately leading the venture as CEO.

Key Responsibilities

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  Develop deep market expertise. Immerse yourself in the relevant industry by working closely with operators, researchers, manufacturers, customers, and technical advisors to build the understanding needed to lead the company with credibility.

  
  


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  Exercise rigorous judgement. Challenge assumptions, identify critical risks early, and recommend when opportunities should be refined, pivoted, or discontinued. Success is measured by making the right decision, not simply starting another company.

  
  


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  Validate the opportunity and define the venture strategy. Build on Spring's research to validate customer demand, refine the business model, assess technical and commercial feasibility, prioritise product development, and produce an investment-ready roadmap for company formation.

  
  


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  Operate with founder-level ownership. Take end-to-end responsibility for turning an ambitious concept into a viable company. Navigate ambiguity, make difficult decisions with limited information, and maintain momentum without requiring close direction.

  
  


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  Build industry partnerships. Develop and nurture relationships with key industry partners, including farmers, processors, and other supply chain stakeholders, across both the development phase and the sales and implementation phase of the business.

  
  


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  Define market strategy. Research and develop a deep understanding of the applicable market; build out the business plan and hiring strategy; and define the company’s core offerings and points of differentiation (initial foundational research will be provided by Spring).

  
  


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  Lead fundraising. Drive the capital strategy to support the company’s ongoing growth. Spring will provide initial – and potentially follow-on – funding for promising companies, but securing additional outside capital may be necessary.

  
  


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  Build a team. Oversee the recruitment of a co-founder (if applicable) and the buildout of a high-performing team across technical, sales, and other key functions.

  
  


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  Represent the company. Serve as the primary representative of the company to all external stakeholders.

  
  


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  Travel frequently. Travel regularly to engage partners, customers, and investors as the needs of the business require.

  
  

Who you are 

You are a builder.

You have a track record of creating, scaling, or leading high-growth businesses and are energized by the challenge of building something new from the ground up.

Personal Attributes

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  Entrepreneurial and highly self-directed

  
  


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  Resilient and persistent in the face of setbacks

  
  


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  Comfortable operating without large support teams or established infrastructure

  
  


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  You bring founder-level ownership, resilience, and pace.

  
  


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  Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills

  
  


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  A bias toward action and ownership

  
  


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  Strong commercial instincts and customer development skills

  
  

Ideal Background 

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  Founder, co-founder, or senior startup leadership experience

  
  


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  Experience bringing new products or businesses to market 

  
  


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  Experience raising capital or working with investors

  
  


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  A proven ability to execute in ambiguous, fast-moving environments

  
  


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  Familiarity with agricultural technologies, especially within our target markets: fish, aquaculture and poultry is a bonus.

  
  

What Success Looks Like After 3 Months of Being Founder in Residence 

In the first 12–24 months, you will:

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  Launch and establish a new venture

  
  


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  Secure early customers and strategic partnerships

  
  


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  Recruit a founding team

  
  


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  Validate a scalable business model

  
  


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  Raise follow-on capital

  
  


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  Position the company for long-term growth and impact

  
  

Why This Role 

This is a rare opportunity to start with more than just an idea.

You'll have access to validated opportunities, ecosystem support, strategic resources, and early capital while retaining the autonomy, ownership, and entrepreneurial challenge of building a company from day one.

For the right founder, this is an opportunity to create and lead a venture with the potential for significant commercial and impact outcomes.

If this opportunity speaks to you but your background doesn’t fit perfectly with the profile above, we’d still like to hear from you.