Founder & CEO - Industrial Shield
Founders Factory
| Company | Founders Factory |
| Category | Uncategorised |
| Location | Perth |
| Remote | Hybrid |
| Employment | Not stated |
| Level | Executive |
| Salary | Not stated by the employer |
| Posted | 16 Jul 2026 |
| Last verified | 10 Aug 2026 |
| Source | Employer ATS (ashby) |
Description
FOUNDER & CEO — INDUSTRIAL SHIELD
One clip, three sensors, real-time protection for the people who work in the world's toughest environments
Location: Australia
Start date: ASAP
More about the concept here. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18K3lyvtmqLhjp1hZ1oxUcx-lwgsxOQvgTfe4045vZZY/edit?usp=sharing
Founders Factory builds and funds startups together with exceptional entrepreneurs and the world's leading companies. Created by IPO-exited founders, we offer founders capital, operational support from a team of hands-on experts, and unrivalled access to a coalition of industry-leading corporate partners. Since 2015, Founders Factory's 450+ portfolio companies have secured 500+ pilots and commercial contracts with our partners.
Our Studio partners with entrepreneurs at day one, developing new ideas, technologies and business models into high-growth companies. In partnership with a leading global industrial technology partner, we are building a new portfolio of ventures.
ABOUT THE VENTURE
The world's workforce is increasingly exposed. Heat stress already causes an estimated 277,000 injuries and 230 deaths a year in the EU alone, and the world has woken up to silica dust — the UK's Health and Safety Executive links around 500 construction deaths a year to silica-related lung disease, plus a further ~4,000 deaths a year from workplace-induced COPD. Yet this is still managed through "holistic risk assessment" or, at best, static environmental monitors. Today's wearables track heat or dust — never heat, dust and physical strain together.
We are building IndustrialShield: one chest-worn clip carrying three sensors — particulate, gas/heat and physiological strain — worn within 300mm of the breathing zone, designed edge-compute-first so it works where mines have no connectivity, and privacy-first to earn worker trust. It turns continuous exposure into actionable, work-group-level risk profiles, sold as a per-worker subscription (~€8–14/worker/month) on two-year site contracts.
The unfair advantage: our partner's sensor stack — a fanless particulate sensor no rival can match, a gas sensor and an exertion sensor — stacked per worker in a way no other silicon vendor can assemble, plus warm routes into mining operators through our partner's smart-mining network and Founders Factory's own relationships across the sector. Early buyer conversations with major miners have been strongly positive: "I haven't seen it in one unit before."
OUR OFFER
We don't just fund ideas — we co-build them. Join as Founder & CEO and get access to a full-stack venture studio offering designed to give you the best possible start:
- €275k of spin-out capital plus a founder stipend + studio budget to build, validate, and launch
- Expert Team: Hands-on support across product, growth, fundraising, AI/ML, design, legal, hiring, and more
- MVP Build: Full-time venture builder(s) to help ship your first product
- Accelerator: 6 months of deep operational support post-launch
- Strategic Network: Intros to top-tier investors and corporate partners
- Validation: A vetted concept, domain insight, and a head start in a massive market
JOBS TO BE DONE
As Founder & CEO, you will be responsible for turning a strong thesis into a scaled, defensible business.
- Define the wedge. Decide which mining geography, buyer and procurement channel you attack first — and how construction becomes the scale-out.
- Turn a thesis into a product. Work with our partner's sensor and manufacturing teams to take the three-in-one clip and its dashboard from concept to a device buyers can pilot.
- Win the first customer. Convert warm introductions into a paying pilot with a major mining or industrial operator, and prove continuous group-level exposure profiling in the field.
- Build the commercial model. Land the per-worker subscription motion, and test insurer co-funding and partner-led distribution.
- Ride the regulatory