--- title: 'Business Development Associate at Biosphere' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-associate-biosphere-oakland-ahc2kp1qswqz' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-11-02' --- # Business Development Associate at Biosphere - **Company:** Biosphere - **Location:** Oakland, CA - **Posted:** 2026-10-26 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-02 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/biosphere/jobs/4467372009 ## Job description ## About the Role You will support Biosphere’s business development efforts, focused on contract manufacturing. As part of the commercial team, you will be responsible for lead sourcing, engaging with potential and existing customers, communicating customer feedback, and selling the company’s production services. You will collaborate closely with the company’s executive team and be a key part of Biosphere’s strategy to scale revenue using its new class of bioreactors. ## Responsibilities - Sell Biosphere’s CM services into industries including food, agriculture, and speciality chemicals - Establish and cultivate long term relationships with key customers and partners including the Dept. of War - Develop go-to-market strategies for Biosphere’s production capacity - Develop relationships with supply chain managers and distributors in different application and ingredient verticals - Lead the entire sales cycle from market research, lead generation, and initial contact, through LOI and contract manufacturing agreements - Understand and communicate quality standards, both internally and with / from partners - Lead and oversee interactions between R&D, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and Legal, including drafting of commercial agreements - Maintain an up to date pipeline of sales leads ## Qualifications - College degree in a related technical field, such as Chemical Engineering or Microbiology - 1-2 years of sales or business experience - Self starter with an entrepreneurial spirit, demonstrated willingness to cold call and hustle for deals - Understanding and interest in negotiation, market dynamics, industry trends, and customer needs in fermentation / biomanufacturing - Excellent communication skills - Willingness to travel within the US ## Preferred Skills - Previous contract negotiation experience - Background in contract manufacturing, speciality chemicals, ag biologicals, and/or human nutrition sales - Technical understanding of synthetic biology and fermentation derived ingredients - Knowledge of QC/QA, product qualification, and regulatory environment for ingredients in feed and food ## Benefits At Biosphere, our goal is to empower talented individuals who are driven by the desire to work on tackling society's biggest challenges. To that end, we take pride in striving to be an equal opportunity employer with a healthy work culture, creating an environment where high performers can thrive. We currently offer the following benefits: - Competitive compensation through a mix of salary and equity. - Unlimited paid vacation and sick/leave days + public holidays. - Comprehensive health insurance for employees and their dependents, including dental and vision. - Paid family leave. - Membership at Pacific Pipe Climbing gym next door. Expected Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, normal working hours. Occasional weekend work may be required. We are an in-person company, located in Oakland, California. Other names this role might have: Partnerships, Sales, Sales Development, Commercial Development Biosphere is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. ## About Biosphere ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Biosphere is replacing the 1950's steam bioreactor with a modern, UV-enabled design to reduce the capital intensity of biomanufacturing. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage) - **Headquarters**: Oakland, California, United States - **Founded**: 2022 - **Founders**: Brian Heligman and Arye Lipman ## Core Business - **Primary Industry**: Industrial Biotechnology / Biomanufacturing - **Target Customers**: B2B, serving companies developing next-generation bioproducts (food, nutrition, specialty chemicals, enzymes, materials, fuels) - **Mission**: Unleash industrial biology to sustainably manufacture material abundance. ## Products & Services - **UV-Sterilized Bioreactor**: A modern bioreactor design that uses ultraviolet radiation for sterilization instead of traditional steam, simplifying hardware and reducing capital costs. This is the company's core platform technology enabling rapid scale-up and lower-cost manufacturing for bioproducts. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed - **Total Funding**: $8.8M (Seed Round, led by VXI Capital and Lowercarbon Capital, announced Jan 2025). Additionally, a $9M grant over 3.5 years from the U.S. Department of Defense (announced May 2026). - **Key Metric**: Total Funding $8.8M (Seed) + $9M DoD Grant - **Notable Investors**: Lowercarbon Capital, Founders Fund, VXI Capital, GS Futures, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) - **Growth Signals**: - Won a $9M grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (May 2026). - Headcount grew 5% YoY, now at 9 employees. - Company is actively hiring and looking to acquire strain and process IP in food/nutrition, consumer health, specialty chemicals, and enzymes. - Featured in TechCrunch and Synbiobeta for their breakthrough technology. ## Competitive Advantages - **Core Technology**: Proprietary UV sterilization approach for bioreactors, a fundamental redesign of a 70-year-old industry standard (the steam bioreactor). This dramatically reduces capital intensity and operational complexity. - **Strong Backing**: Supported by top-tier deep-tech and climate investors (Lowercarbon Capital, Founders Fund). - **Clear Problem Focus**: Solving a critical, well-known bottleneck in the $100B bioproducts industry (the reliance on outdated reactor designs). ## Strategic Focus - **Scale-up & Deployment**: Enabling rapid scale-up for next-generation bioproducts by reducing risk and unlocking lower-cost manufacturing. - **Asset Acquisition**: Actively seeking to acquire strain and process IP to expand their portfolio and capabilities. - **Government & Defense**: Leveraging DoD grants to develop and deploy their technology for critical chemical manufacturing. ## Why Work Here - **Impact**: Opportunity to work on a fundamental challenge in biomanufacturing, directly contributing to a more sustainable future. - **Culture**: Described as a "small, passionate team" of "relentless builders and problem-solvers." Values resilience and transforming the world using technology. - **Growth Stage**: Early-stage (Seed) with significant growth trajectory, offering high autonomy and the chance to shape the company. - **Location**: Based in Oakland, CA. Roles appear to be on-site/in-office. - **Team**: Highly competent team with expertise in commercial-scale fermentation, robotic greenhouses, thin-film semiconductors, and high-throughput bioinformatics. ## Sources 1. [biosphere.io](https://www.biosphere.io/) 2. [biosphere.io/about](https://www.biosphere.io/about) 3. [LinkedIn - Biosphere](https://www.linkedin.com/company/biosphereio) 4. [Greenhouse Jobs - Biosphere](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/biosphere) 5. 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