About the Role
We are seeking an exceptional Entrepreneur-in-Residence ( EIR ) to lead the creation and commercialization of a high-potential agricultural technology venture focused on biological control, advanced formulations, and delivery technologies.
The venture is developing science based solutions to address major agricultural productivity challenges, including crop pests, plant diseases, parasitic weeds, and inefficient use of agricultural inputs. Its technology platform may combine biological actives with advanced formulation, encapsulation, and delivery approaches to improve stability, efficacy, precision, and field performance.
The opportunity builds on promising scientific and technical capabilities developed in Egypt, with potential applications across crop protection and sustainable agricultural inputs. Product opportunities will be prioritized based on farmer need, technical performance, scalability, manufacturability, cost competitiveness, regulatory feasibility, novelty, protectability, and commercial potential.
Working with university researchers, technical experts, manufacturing partners, and the M-Empire ecosystem, the EIR will help turn early-stage R&D into a focused, investable, and market ready company. The role includes shaping the commercial direction, assessing product and market priorities, supporting IP and licensing strategy, building validation and market entry partnerships, and preparing the venture for fundraising and growth.
The EIR will also play an important role in evaluating how scientific innovation can be translated into defensible business value. This includes contributing to decisions around novelty assessment, intellectual property filing priorities, licensing readiness, and how the venture’s core technology should be positioned for long term competitive advantage.
Responsibilities
We are looking for an entrepreneurial, commercially driven leader who wants to build a company not simply manage an innovation project.
You should be able to:
Shape and execute a commercialization strategy for science based agricultural products.
Identify priority crops, use cases, customer segments, and entry markets.
Translate technical evidence and field trial results into a compelling product proposition and business case.
Lead the journey from early R&D and proof of concept through field validation, pilot deployment, and market entry.
Assess the commercial relevance of technical novelty and help define how innovation can be translated into a differentiated and defensible market position.
Work with technical, legal, and institutional stakeholders on IP-related matters, including invention disclosure, filing priorities, licensing discussions, and alignment between IP strategy and venture strategy.
Understand, manage, or coordinate relevant regulatory pathways for agricultural inputs, crop-protection products, biologicals, and related technologies in Egypt and priority international markets.
Build partnerships with growers, distributors, agricultural companies, manufacturers, research institutions, and other strategic stakeholders.
Work effectively with scientific and technical teams to prioritize development according to customer need, regulatory requirements, manufacturability, novelty, and commercial potential.
Develop the venture’s business model, operating roadmap, financial plan, investor narrative, and fundraising strategy.
Recruit, lead, and motivate a high-performing team in an ambitious and fast moving environment.
We value strong ownership, sound judgment under uncertainty, resilience, clear communication, and a practical ability to bridge science with agricultural and commercial realities.
Requirements
A scientific or technical background is valuable, but it is not essential. We welcome candidates with strong commercial, entrepreneurial, product development, or sector experience relevant to science based agricultural innovation.
Relevant experience may include:
Agronomy, plant pathology, entomology, microbiology, biotechnology, biochemistry, crop science, agricultural engineering, formulation science, nanotechnology, or related fields.
Crop protection, agricultural biologicals, biocontrol, biofertilizers, biostimulants, seed technologies, specialty fertilizers, or advanced agricultural input formulations.
Taking an agricultural technology, biological active, or science based product from R&D toward greenhouse testing, field trials, registration, manufacturing, and commercialization.
Product management, business development, strategy, sales, operations, or venture building in agriculture, life sciences, crop protection, or agricultural inputs.
Assessing technology differentiation, novelty, protectability, and the commercial implications of IP position in science based ventures.
Exposure to patent filing processes, invention disclosure workflows, university technology transfer, licensing discussions, or IP-supported venture creation.
Field-trial design, product efficacy validation, farmer adoption, agricultural distribution, and crop-production economics.
Regulatory exposure involving agricultural inputs, biological products, crop-protection products, or adjacent technologies in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa, or international markets.
A relevant network across growers, distributors, agri-input companies, universities, researchers, contract manufacturers, regulators, or strategic partners.
Fundraising, strategic partnerships, licensing university intellectual property, or launching science-based ventures.
International agricultural market experience is highly desirable, particularly in emerging markets.
Why This Opportunity
Agriculture needs solutions that protect crops, improve productivity, and reduce dependence on inefficient or unsustainable inputs. This venture has the potential to address real, high-value challenges through biological control and advanced formulation and delivery technologies.
This is also an opportunity to help shape not only a product, but a defensible company. For the right EIR, the role offers the chance to connect scientific novelty, intellectual property, licensing potential, and commercial execution in a way that creates lasting competitive advantage.
You will not be joining a mature company with a fixed roadmap. You will help define the products, markets, partnerships, IP pathway, and company from the ground up turning promising science into solutions that can work in real farming environments.
Egypt offers a compelling base for this journey, with access to scientific talent, agricultural relevance, and potential manufacturing capabilities. The ambition, however, extends beyond Egypt: to build a company with relevance across regional and international agricultural markets.
For the right EIR, this is a rare opportunity to combine scientific innovation, entrepreneurial ownership, and commercial ambition and to build a venture that creates meaningful value for farmers, partners, and investors.
What We Offer
This is an opportunity to build—not just join—a high-potential AgriTech venture with meaningful ownership, early-stage support, and access to the capabilities needed to move from science to market.
Founder Ownership: You and your co-founders will retain the majority stake in the venture. We build with founders, not for founders.
Financial Security During the EIR Phase: You will receive a competitive consultancy fee, enabling you to focus on validating the opportunity and building the venture.
Pre-Seed Capital: Following Investment Committee approval, initial capital will be provided to incorporate the company and generate the technical, IP, and commercial evidence needed for the next stage.
An Integrated Venture-Building Platform: Access R&D, formulation and manufacturing capabilities, legal support, IT resources, and commercial expertise reducing execution risk, cost, and time to market.
Support in IP and Venture Structuring: Work with stakeholders to shape the pathway for technology protection, licensing, and venture formation around promising scientific assets.
Hands-On Support Beyond Incorporation: M-Empire will remain an active partner as the company grows, supporting fundraising, team building, strategic partnerships, and market expansion.
A Chance to Create Real Impact: Build solutions that can help farmers improve productivity, strengthen crop resilience, and support more sustainable agriculture.
If you are ready to turn promising science into a scalable company, this is an opportunity to lead from the front and share meaningfully in the value you create.