Position: Business Development & Commercialization Intern

Term: September 2026 to December 2026 (13 weeks)

Hours: 35 hrs/week, in-person

Location: Richmond, BC

Compensation: $20/hr

Who we are

VRNDA Labs is a rapid R&D; company solving complex challenges in health and life sciences. Founded in 2021, we bring together engineers, scientists, and clinicians to tackle novel problems. Our current focuses are in diagnostic assays, microfluidics, laboratory automation, and medical devices. We move fast and stay lean.

Our approach is simple: rapid iteration from concept to working prototype, real-world testing, and deployment. We also vertically integrate our own technology, as our company runs on solutions we've built. Everything we create is proven in the field before it reaches our clients.

We don't just design solutions; we build, prototype, and take them all the way through commercialization. If it's been solved before, it's not for us. We focus exclusively on novel challenges that push boundaries and require creative problem-solving.

You'll work in a multidisciplinary environment where different perspectives lead to better solutions and where you'll see your work go from sketch to production-ready product.

The project

You'll work with the engineering team on our lab automation system, which brings robotics and computer vision into a researcher's working space for seamless human-machine collaboration in scientific research. Before your term starts, the team will have a prototype automation system ready. The engineering problem is largely solved and ready for commercialization.

This role suits a business and marketing student with initiative and a broad skill set who wants to take on the commercialization process directly and work with more independence than most internships offer.

What You'll Do

You'll be embedded with the engineering team and support the business side of bringing our lab automation platform to market. Day-to-day responsibilities include:

- Run competitor and market analysis, including pricing benchmarks and adjacent applications
- Build and maintain a pipeline of prospective customers across academic, clinical, and industry labs
- Conduct customer discovery conversations and turn what you hear into requirements the engineering team can act on
- Translate technical capability into plain language for customers, and customer needs into terms engineers can use
- Prepare demo materials, one-pagers,



and pitch decks for live customer demos
- Support marketing, including positioning, messaging, web and social content, and selecting relevant conferences and events
- Research pricing models, cost structure, and market size
- Flag commercial, regulatory, and procurement risks early, with options for addressing them
- Identify recent applications or customer segments worth pursuing and make the case for them
- Keep clear records of research, customer conversations, and decisions
- Contribute to internal technical discussions and present findings to the team

Required Skills & Qualifications

- Currently enrolled in 3rd year or higher in Business, Commerce, Marketing, Economics, or a closely related discipline. We'll also consider technical students with demonstrated business or entrepreneurial experience
- Strong written and verbal communication, including explaining complex ideas to people outside the field
- Willingness to start conversations with people you don't know, including customer interviews and cold outreach
- Initiative, with concrete examples of work you identified and carried through on your own
- Research and analysis skills, and the ability to turn scattered information into a clear recommendation
- Interest in learning the technical side, including robotics, computer vision, and lab workflows, well enough to speak about the product accurately
- Strong attention to detail in maintaining records, following through, and documenting findings
- Demonstrated ability to learn quickly and contribute in a fast-moving, multidisciplinary environment
- Ability to work independently and take ownership of assigned work with minimal supervision
- Willingness to take on unfamiliar problems outside your background
- Available to work in person in Richmond, BC for the full term

Desired Skills & Qualifications

- Prior experience at a startup or other early-stage organization
- Experience with customer discovery, market sizing, or competitive analysis
- Exposure to life sciences, biotechnology, medical devices, or laboratory environments




- Familiarity using AI tools such as Claude to speed up business work, including drafting documents and producing designs. Experience with Claude Design is an asset
- Familiarity with design tools such as Figma, Canva, or the Adobe suite
- Experience building cost models or pricing frameworks in Excel or similar
- Experience with grant applications or funding proposals
- Involvement in entrepreneurship clubs, case competitions, student ventures, or your own business
- Comfort presenting to external audiences and representing an organization professionally
- Basic understanding of intellectual property, regulatory pathways, or procurement in scientific or clinical settings
- Prior co-op, internship, or work experience in a business, commercial, or R&D; setting

What you'll get out of it

Throughout the internship, you'll own the commercialization work for a real product or line of products the team is working on. Your market analysis will inform some of the decisions the engineering team makes and how we approach pricing the products we build. This is not a role where you will be shadowing other team members.

You'll work directly with our advisors, founders, and engineers. There is no layer of management between you and the people making decisions, so you'll see how those decisions get made and you'll be expected to contribute to them. You'll finish the term with work you can show including market and competitor analyses, customer research, and commercial materials used in live demos and other marketing releases.

Eligibility

This position is supported in part by the Venture for Canada Internship Program. To be eligible, applicants must be currently enrolled at a Canadian post-secondary institution, hold Canadian citizenship, permanent residency, or refugee status, and be legally eligible to work in Canada. This role is contingent on confirmation of program funding.

How to Apply

Please submit a resume (up to 1 page) and a cover letter (up to 1 page). For the cover letter, we'd specifically like you to address how your experiences meet some of our desired skills and qualifications, and to tell us about something you started and saw through on your own initiative.

We're reviewing applications on a rolling basis and working to a compressed hiring timeline. Interviews will generally be scheduled in the evenings to accommodate class schedules. Please apply early.

📌 Business Development & Commercialization Intern (Vancouver)
🏢 VRNDA Labs
📍 Vancouver