Deren Koseoglu
VP of Business Development at SandboxAQ, building the go-to-market for AI- and physics-based chemical simulation. Thirteen years turning scientific innovation into durable commercial results across pharma, biotech, chemicals, and advanced materials — and an active mentor and advisor to deep-tech and life-sciences founders.
Translating deep-tech and scientific innovation into commercial reality
I spend my career in the gap most boards worry about most: between a scientifically brilliant platform and a durable, scalable revenue model. At SandboxAQ, eMolecules, and Schrödinger, I built the commercial organizations — team structure, pricing, pipeline, go-to-market — that turned AI, computational chemistry, and R&D software into real pharma, biotech, and materials-industry adoption.
I bring boards a practitioner's view of commercial risk and opportunity in AI-enabled science, global market entry, and regulated-industry sales — grounded in a chemistry degree, an MBA in go-to-market strategy, and hands-on experience founding and scaling go-to-market functions from zero.
What I bring to the boardroom
AI & Deep-Tech Commercialization
Built go-to-market from scratch for SandboxAQ's AI- and physics-based simulation platform — Large Quantitative Models, generative chemistry, and DFT workflows — for catalysts, batteries, and advanced materials.
Life Sciences & Materials Strategy
Thirteen years converting pharma, biotech, and chemicals R&D — CADD, cheminformatics, formulation chemistry — into commercial pipelines, from Fortune 500 accounts to early-stage biotech.
Global Market Expansion
Opened APAC and Middle East territories; led the first-ever sales in Japan and South Korea; built distribution and manufacturing relationships across Mexico and Chile.
Revenue & Team Scaling
Built and led commercial teams against quotas as large as $80M; grew strategic accounts 30–50% year over year through structured account management and upsell strategy.
Strategic Partnerships & M&A
Supported diligence on acquisition targets; structured equity-for-software investment partnerships (~$3M) with strategic biotech companies in exchange for downstream payments.
Government & Regulated Markets
Primary account owner for NIH, CDC, and FDA relationships; negotiated six-figure federal contracts and navigated regulated-industry procurement cycles.
Track record
Leading commercial strategy for SandboxAQ's AI- and physics-based chemical simulation business across energy storage, catalysts, and advanced materials. Built the commercial organization from the ground up: team structure, pricing, and pipeline management.
- Built GTM for new AI simulation category
- CTO / Head-of-Innovation relationships
- Founded commercial org from zero
Drove bookings and revenue across the top 15 global pharma and biotech accounts; led a 10-person global sales and marketing team; reported revenue forecasts directly to the CEO and Board of Directors.
- $80M team quota
- $2M+ in new annual business
- Opened Japan & South Korea
- Weekly CEO / Board reporting
Led an $8M territory team across pharma, biotech, and government accounts (NIH, CDC, FDA); structured equity-for-software partnerships with strategic biotech companies.
- $8M team quota
- $2.5M new business in 2023
- $500K FDA & $600K NIH contracts
- 50% YoY strategic account growth
Rose from the analytical lab bench to commercial leadership of a $6M+ polymer division, pairing hands-on R&D and cGMP manufacturing experience with new-market development across North America.
- $4.5M → $6M+ division revenue
- Client base: 5 → 50+
- Opened Mexico & Chile markets
Active outside the day job
Go-to-Market & Market-Entry Advisory
Independent consulting for biotech and life-sciences companies on US market entry, sales strategy, and CRM implementation — including European SaaS and Asia-Pacific computational chemistry providers entering the US market.
Mentor, Life Sciences Track
Mentoring founders in EFL's highly selective nine-month program for massively scalable science and deep-tech start-ups.
Academic foundation
Global fluency: Citizenship in the United States, Sweden, and Turkey; conversant in Spanish and Swedish. Executive coursework in drug discovery and commercialization through Harvard Medical (HMX) and UC San Diego.