Venture Fellow - BrightEdge

American Chemical Society•Hartford, MA

2d•$35 - $40•Remote

About The Position

BrightEdge is the innovation, impact investment, and venture capital arm of the American Cancer Society. It invests in for-profit, early-stage companies developing cutting-edge, cancer-focused therapeutics, diagnostics, devices, and technologies to accelerate the ACS's mission of ending cancer. The Venture Fellow supports BrightEdge’s investment and innovation activities by conducting diligence on prospective portfolio companies and contributing to informed investment decisions. This role involves developing landscape analyses, evaluating scientific and clinical data, assessing intellectual property and competitive positioning, and building market insights. The Fellow may also identify and engage with subject matter experts, clinicians, researchers, and key opinion leaders. Responsibilities include synthesizing findings into clear materials and presenting recommendations to the BrightEdge team. Additionally, Fellows will support BrightEdge innovation programming, including material preparation, activity coordination, and engagement with founders and external stakeholders. Fellows will participate in diligence discussions, pipeline reviews, and investment meetings, gaining exposure to venture decision-making processes and learning about emerging startups in life sciences and healthcare. Strong analytical skills, clear communication, and the ability to translate complex scientific and market insights into actionable recommendations are essential. This role requires 10 hours per week.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree
Deep technical background in life sciences and/or healthcare technologies with strong understanding of cancer biology.
Business experience is a plus in startup or innovation setting (venture capital, business development, technology transfer, licensing, finance, operations, consulting).
Self-starter and able to drive programming without much oversight.
Flexible, comfortable with change and ambiguity; team player with low ego.
Entrepreneurial drive and passion for biomedical innovation and its commercialization.
Eager to learn—new topics, methods/approaches, and tools through self-learning, observation, resources, discussion with colleagues.
Strong oral and written communication skills—reports and summaries; creating presentations.
Analytical/evaluative thinker and excellent attention to detail.

Nice To Haves

Actively pursuing an advanced degree (Master’s, PhD or MD or equivalent) in an oncology-related field or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

Work with the Investment and Innovation teams to support investment diligence, data collection, and analytical tasks, including reviewing scientific literature, related intellectual property, competitive landscape, clinical data, commercial activity, industry and market trends, and stakeholder interviews; synthesize findings into clear written reports and presentations to inform investment decisions.
Partner with the Investment and Innovation teams to support development of a focused investment thesis in an area aligned with BrightEdge priorities, including identifying key unmet needs, emerging technologies, and strategic areas of opportunity; deliver insights through structured reports and presentations.
Develop “watch lists” of emerging oncology therapeutic, diagnostic, device and health tech companies, based on various BrightEdge investment criteria.
Support the planning, coordination, and execution of BrightEdge events, including preparing materials, managing logistics, and ensuring high-quality delivery of program activities, while gaining direct exposure to BrightEdge networks of industry experts and ecosystem partners.