Venture Growth Manager, Prototypes for Humanity
About Prototypes for Humanity supports the launch and growth of ventures from its unique community of academic entrepreneurs across 1,000+ leading global universities. Acting as an enabler across all aspects of venture development, from early strategy to co-building with founders and partners, piloting, investing and growth, Prototypes for Humanity attracts high-calibre scientific ventures to the UAE, supporting them to evolve towards market-fit, investment-readiness and internationalisation. Through our ecosystem of global academia, government, industry and investors, our mission is to advance research into viable ventures, and create positive economic and societal impact.
The Role
The Venture Growth Manager will work across a portfolio of ventures that are evolving from technical validation in a real-world environment, to securing their first letters of intent and early adopters, and finalising product market fit, and will help them move into commercialisation.
This role is about early traction: knowing where each venture needs to be in three months, and going out to find the customers, users and distributors who will get it there.We are looking for a natural commercial builder who can take an early venture, find the people who will use, buy or pay for what it has built, and turn those conversations into commitments. One morning you could be with a hospital, the same afternoon with a farm, a distributor or a ministry.
Key Responsibilities
- Identify and approach potential customers, users, distributors and public sector buyers for each venture, and turn those conversations into letters of intent, paid pilots, early adopters and first sales.
- Work with founders to test and refine their offer based on what the market tells you, moving each venture towards product market fit.
- Set a clear commercial roadmap for each venture and track progress against it.
- Use the traction you build to help each venture get ready for its raise and coach founders to talk about and sell what they have built.
- Spend real time in the field, with site visits, client meetings and events across the UAE a regular part of the week.
- Contribute to wider venture building with the P4H team, including venture structuring.
What You Bring
- Significant experience, typically 8 years or more, growing early-stage businesses, for example as a cofounder, head of growth or business development, venture builder, or in venture capital portfolio support and value creation.
- A track record of securing customers, users or commercial commitments for early-stage products, such as letters of intent, paid pilots, contracts or first revenue.
- You have a sales mindset and know how to turn conversations into commitments and help a venture work towards market fit along the way. You also know how to approach investors and build a roadmap towards a raise.
- Experience of fundraising, whether engaging investors, preparing a raise or being part of one.
- Knowledge of the UAE business, startup and innovation ecosystems is imperative. Wider GCC is desirable.
- Access to an existing network of industry and investors relevant to our ventures is a competitive advantage.
- A proven track record of collaborating with government authorities and regulatory bodies is a plus.
- Experience growing science or research-based ventures, for example in health, climate, energy, food or engineering, is a plus.
Who You Are
- You are driven by growth and work with a real sense of urgency.
- You can hear "No" many times in a day and come back the next morning just as motivated.
- You build relationships quickly and are credible, convincing and pleasant.
- You move easily between serious commercial discussions and lighter, relationship building conversations.
- You are a lateral thinker who is happy to go wherever the work takes you.
- You care about research driven innovation and its impact on the world.
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