Co-Founder & CTO for an Embedded AI & Acoustic Intelligence Startup

About the Position

We are seeking a Co-Founder & CTO for an Embedded AI & Acoustic Intelligence Startup to join our innovative team in Paris. This role is not a traditional salaried CTO position but an opportunity to join as a genuine technical co-founder, influence the company’s long-term direction, and help bring an innovative hardware and embedded AI product to market.

Responsibilities

• Own the company’s overall technical vision and execution strategy.
• Lead the transition from prototype to scalable hardware product.
• Ensure alignment between hardware, embedded software, AI models, cloud services, and the customer-facing platform.
• Define technical priorities and make pragmatic build-versus-buy decisions.
• Coordinate internal contributors, freelancers, research experts, laboratories, and technology partners.
• Establish engineering, testing, security, documentation, and quality standards.
• Evaluate technical risks related to embedded AI, privacy, data protection, and acoustic data processing.
• Support the creation of proprietary acoustic datasets and classification models.
• Work with external AI and Edge AI platforms where this accelerates product development.
• Contribute hands-on when required, while maintaining ownership of the broader system.
• Represent the company in technical discussions with customers, investors, researchers, and strategic partners.
• Help build the future engineering and R&D team.
• Work closely with the CEO as a genuine business and technology partner.

Requirements

• Strong technical leadership experience within a startup, scale-up, or product-focused engineering environment.
• Broad understanding of software architecture, embedded systems, hardware development, and product validation.
• Experience working with connected devices, IoT, Edge AI, embedded products, or other hardware-software systems.
• Understanding of microcontrollers and resource-constrained computing environments.
• Working knowledge of C or C++, with the ability to review and validate embedded code.
• Experience with Python-based prototypes and their transition into production systems.
• Ability to review technical architecture, protocols, PCB decisions, testing processes, and external engineering work.
• A pragmatic approach to developing an effective V1 without overengineering it.
• Strong product thinking and understanding of how technical decisions affect the end-user experience.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills.
• Confidence in presenting technical concepts to customers, partners, and investors.
• A hands-on, proactive, and highly accountable working style.
• Fluent French and professional English.
• Current residence in Paris or a genuine willingness to relocate.
• Readiness to accept the risks and opportunities associated with joining an early-stage company as a co-founder.

Nice to Have

• Experience in acoustics, audio processing, microphones, sound classification, or signal processing.
• Experience with embedded machine learning or TinyML.
• Knowledge of MEMS microphones, acoustic measurement systems, or sound-level meters.
• Experience with PCB development, electronics manufacturing, or hardware certification.
• Familiarity with C++, Rust, Edge Impulse, or similar embedded AI platforms.
• Experience building proprietary datasets or training classification models.
• Previous experience launching a physical product or moving from prototype to manufacturing.
• Experience working with laboratories, academic researchers, or engineering consultancies.
• Participation in fundraising, investor due diligence, technical sales, or startup acceleration programmes.
• An existing network within the French DeepTech, hardware, AI, or research ecosystem.

We Offer

• A genuine Co-Founder & CTO position with meaningful influence over the company.
• A negotiable equity package reflecting your experience, commitment, and contribution.
• The ability to begin fractionally or part-time before transitioning to full-time.
• A product with an existing technical foundation rather than an idea that must be built from zero.
• Paying beta users and demonstrated early market interest.
• Access to the Station F and Village by Crédit Agricole startup ecosystems.
• Collaboration with experienced specialists in acoustics, AI, hardware, and applied research.
• The opportunity to shape a new category at the intersection of embedded AI and acoustic intelligence.
• A clear path towards product launch, commercial pilots, international expansion, and the next investment round.

About the Company

Our Paris-based DeepTech startup is at the forefront of building an AI-powered acoustic intelligence platform. We have already developed the majority of our software foundation, attracted paying beta users, and generated early interest from potential B2B partners across several industries. With 100K in bridge funding and preparing to raise an additional 500K, we are poised for significant growth and impact.