Intro to Mission Studio

Mission Studio is dedicated to creating, launching and scaling startups that address some of the UK’s biggest social challenges. From achieving net zero to tackling obesity to striving for equal outcomes for children born into disadvantage, we’re not just building great businesses, we’re designing impactful solutions for a better future.

Backed by a world-class venture design and building process, dedicated capital, experienced operators providing hands-on support, as well as Nesta’s ecosystem of experts, research and partnerships, we partner with founders to build incredible companies.

Become a Mission Studio Founder

When we have a validated concept that we believe can become a successful and impactful business, we look for a founder to lead the business, build alongside us and lead it into the future.

As a founder with Mission Studio, you’ll receive a living stipend for six months, alongside additional funds to build an MVP and test with real customers. You’ll also have the full support of our team of experienced builders, designers, founders and technologists, and the chance to pitch for £200k in pre-seed funding at the end of the build process.

Mission Studio is led by Kenny Ewan (ex-Founder of Wefarm, the world's largest farming network, reaching 5 million users and raising over $35mn in VC investment). Kenny and the wider team bring decades of startup experience to support you on your journey, doing whatever it takes to help you and your venture succeed.

Mission Studio’s latest venture concept - Mendara

Mendara addresses Nesta’s mission to give all children aged 0-5 in the UK a fair start via improving maternal mental health, which has well evidenced impacts on child development and attainment. Mendara’s aim is to provide accessible, evidence-based therapeutic support for mothers struggling with birth trauma, enabling recovery.

45% of new mums experience birth trauma. And the system isn’t built to support them: 38% of new mums receive no follow up care, the NHS has trauma treatment thresholds that rise every year, and even when mums meet the thresholds they face waitlists of up to 6 months for the support they need. This is causing a significant impact on mothers - 5% go on to experience PTSD and an estimated 45% go on to experience post natal depression. This can have long lasting effects on the mother-child bond and on the child’s cognitive, behavioural and emotional development.

This is where Mendara comes in. The goal is to provide immediate, personalised and scalable care for mothers through:

• Peer to peer support - Grouping mothers into hyperlocal communities of people with similar lived experiences.
• Guided conversations - Discussion groups open up at set times for guided, moderated discussions
• Personalised therapeutic pathways - Equipping women with the tools that they need to overcome their trauma; IBT, CBT

We have validated this concept with a range of experts and those with lived experience, and already have strong partnership traction with NHS and charitable organisations willing to support the development and piloting of an MVP.

The Role

At Mission Studio we're focused on working with talented individuals who want to build soaring, impactful ventures. You don't need to have founded a unicorn in a past life to be the perfect person to do this. You may have deep domain knowledge, you may have worked in a startup team before and are ready to take the next step, or you've worked in leadership in a larger organisation and are keen to have the freedom to run at a problem in your own way.

Essential skills we’re looking for in a Founder:

• Driven by a fierce passion to support maternal mental health, specifically recovery from birth trauma
• Previous experience working within or selling to the NHS
• Resilient and adaptable, adept at navigating challenges and pivoting when necessary
• Thrives in fast-paced, uncertain environments, transforming challenges into opportunities
• Scrappy and resourceful – takes initiative and is proactively able to get things done with low resources when needed
• Exceptional at inspiring and leading teams to achieve shared goals in an inclusive environment
• Skilled storyteller, effective at communicating with diverse audiences and stakeholders
• Capable of confidently standing by your convictions whilst also being able to identify when feedback shared is additive to your approach

Non-essential (NB: these are nice-to-have, no expectation to meet all of the below):

• A level of understanding and experience relevant to Mendara, whether thats:
  
  • A background in psychology, psychiatry or mental health
  • Knowledge of digital mental health regulatory landscape
  • Familiarity with new technological advancements in mental health
• Understanding of healthcare pathways (NHS pathways, NICE approvals)
• Experience in an operational or leadership role within a well-funded startup;
• Awareness and understanding of VC fundraising processes and best practice, potentially having raised capital previously;
• Product management and/or software-experience

Whatever it is, if you care about the problem Mendara is trying to solve and think you have the grit to bring it to life - we want to hear from you.

The founder package we offer

• A majority equity stake in the new company for you and your co-founders
• A de-risked concept with initial inroads into relevant customer and partner networks
• A living stipend of ~£4k per month for up to 6 months (the equivalent of a 50k annual salary, pre tax) and £25k of additional funds to support the building and launching of the company
• Dedicated, hands-on operational support from a passionate team specialising in design, engineering, product development, growth marketing, talent acquisition, fundraising, legal matters, and strategic partnerships
• A unique opportunity to create a scalable business that makes a meaningful impact
• In just 6 months, we’ll support you to validate, build, and launch an MVP
• After 6 months, and providing key milestones are met, you’ll have the opportunity to pitch for an additional £200K investment and establish the venture as an independent company
• Gain access to Nesta’s mission-relevant internal and external networks
• Be co-located with the studio team for 6 months, with access to desk space and meeting rooms in our offices in Blackfriars
• Access our Founder platform of peer-to-peer support, perks, unfair advantage of mission experts and network of late stage founders, investors and startup operators

We are eager to receive applications from all backgrounds and are committed to building a diverse culture, in line with our EDI commitments. Our recruitment process is fair and unbiased, and all applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination.

Making an application

There will be a webinar for more information on this role on Monday December 9th, sign up here.

To apply for this role, please submit your application before 5pm on Sunday December 15th.

Interviews will take place starting week commencing December 16th.