About Marble
Marble is a climate tech venture studio. Our north star is to erase billions of tons from annual greenhouse gas emissions and create a thriving future.
We partner with scientists, engineers and operators to create new deeptech companies that solve hard climate problems — slash industrial emissions, remove carbon from the atmosphere, and cool the planet — while reshaping multi-billion $ industries.
We're proud to be backed by leading climate investors across Europe and the US.
Hard Climate Problem: Bioengineered CDR
Biological carbon fixation pulls 100s of Gt C from the atmosphere every year, as plants, algae, bacteria, archaea, and other organisms form biomass through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Nature-based solutions harness this superpower but cannot deliver the scale of permanent carbon removal that the world needs.
We believe there are several white spaces to engineer biology for large-scale CDR, taking advantage of a cambrian explosion in synthetic biology tools and methods. We are exploring opportunities across two broad categories.
One general idea is to use organisms that grow fast (possibly engineered to grow faster) and prevent biomass decomposition to CO2 or CH4.
Another approach is to use biological agents to increase the performance of inorganic systems like direct air capture and geochemical carbon removal.
Potential opportunities
- Storage biomolecules: engineering plants or microbes to produce recalcitrant carbon (e.g. sporopollenin, algaenan, lignin, suberin, oxalates, other).
- Bio DAC: using biocatalysts to enhance reaction kinetics in direct air capture. Can we engineer optimal enzymes for the job and produce them at scale? What would be the ideal DAC process integration for such an idea?
- Biogeochemistry: using biology to enhance silicate weathering and mineral carbonation. Which mechanisms (e.g. enzymes, microbes, secondary metabolites) are ideal in which geochemical process? How can they be enhanced?
- Other potential approaches:
- Improved biomass preservation (e.g. burying, sinking, extreme conditions)
- Large scale cultivation of (super)species fit for purpose
- Novel biosynthesis pathways (e.g. rewiring N/P metabolism in autotrophs)
- Augmented photosynthesis (CCM, plastid/chloroplast, C3 to C4/CAM, etc)
- Approaches for peatlands and coastal blue carbon
We are actively looking for new Founders in Residence to join us, either:
- As First Founders to scope entirely new approaches
- As Co-Founders for projects in development within Marble
Ideal Background(s)
If you are a mission-driven individual with deep expertise in one of the areas below, or any adjacent field, we would love to hear from you!
- Synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, molecular biology, with experience in working with model organisms and manipulating genetic circuits
- OR Enzyme engineering, with experience in enzyme optimization, enzyme immobilisation and other methods to enhance stability and activity
- OR Plant sciences, microbiology, or related, with experience in plant developmental biology, biomass processing
- OR Computational biology, systems biology or related, ideally with experience with retrosynthesis tools and other predictive modeling
Nice to have: fundamentals of chemical and process engineering, materials science, MRV, techno economic modelling, life cycle assessment
Who We Are Looking For
We encourage you to apply even if you feel you don’t meet all requirements. We know that some skills can be learned while you are building.
We value intelligence, creativity and Founder Potential:
- You dream of founding your own company and building a stellar team.
- You are a pragmatic optimist with a driving motivation to mitigate climate change.
- You know how to communicate about deeply technical subjects in a way that speaks to non-technical individuals to spark their interest
- You are self-motivated, outcome-focused, and action-oriented. You enjoy working on multiple project areas with an interdisciplinary team, in a fast-paced environment.
- You are naturally inquisitive and curious, able to quickly grasp key concepts, and go deep enough to surface non-obvious insights.
- You approach radically new ideas with an open mind. You get to the salient questions quickly, and your first instinct is to ask how they scale.
- You understand that innovation starts with people. You enjoy building collaborations within a team and with external partners.
What We Offer
As a Founder-in-Residence, you’ll be joining like-minded individuals who also believe in the need for deeptech solutions to fight climate change.
- For First Founder opportunities, you would be scoping entirely new approaches together with us, before we go on to find your future co-founders.
- For Co-Founder opportunities, you would be partnering with a Founder in Residence who has already been developing a great idea within Marble. You will have the opportunity to meet her/him before making any big commitment — to learn more about the idea and evaluate how well you’d be working together!
In both cases, we offer (among other things)
- A €2500 monthly allowance during your participation in the programme
- A €250,000 pre-seed investment on startup creation, if you are successful. You and your team will own 80% of the company at pre-seed.
- Full-stack support in our venture creation programme
- Mentorship and guidance at every step of the way
- Hands on support across technology and market research, landing interviews with experts and customers, techno economic modelling, roadmap and scaleup strategy, sourcing your future co-founders and advisors, and more
- Access to an unparalleled network across science, industry, talent, investors, mentors, and other climate deeptech founders
- Access to our research insights, knowledge base and curated resources
- Weekly check-ins, work sessions in our Paris HQ (or remote) and continuous peer learning with other programme participants
- Seed Fundraising support after the programme. Introductions to the best seed investors and help with term sheet negotiation.
- Founder Visa sponsorship if you wish to relocate to France. Remote participation is possible, preferably from Europe and with regular in-person meetings.
How To Apply
We are currently taking applications for the late November 2023 cohort:
We believe that a diverse group of minds is key to solving the climate crisis. We strongly encourage women and people of colour to apply.
Studies have shown that under-represented candidates are less likely to apply for a role unless they feel they meet every single qualification.
We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and mission-driven cohort. If you’re excited about the programme but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with what you read on our website, we encourage you to apply anyways!
FAQs
For a full list of FAQs, please visit our website.