BIOS 36. Building Biotech Ecosystems w/ John Flavin - Founder & CEO @ Portal Innovations
John Flavin is Founder & CEO @ Portal Innovations, a premier venture development engine that builds and invests in early stage life sciences ventures. Portal’s differentiated mix of crafted capital drives companies from scientific ideation to business creation, helping entrepreneurs translate cutting-edge technology into sustainable, global businesses with breakthrough products to help patients.
Prior to launching Portal, John founded and built several life sciences companies including Pyxis Oncology (NASDAQ: PYXS) and civic incubators MATTER and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago, a first-of-its-kind, fully integrated academic value creation engine which translates innovation through the launch of new businesses and partnerships at the University of Chicago, 2 national laboratories and Chicago’s South Side by providing entrepreneurship education, incubation space, IP licensing and capital.
John has completed numerous public and private capital financings totaling over $365 million including 3 NASDAQ IPOs and has raised over $135 million in philanthropic and corporate funding to support university technology commercialization and venture start-up activities.
He possesses a deep understanding of academic-to-commercial innovation ecosystem development with a particular focus on the life sciences sector and has established key relationships with a diverse set of prospective partners representing all elements of the life sciences community including corporate, venture capital and academic stakeholders.
John is a frequent key-note speaker, panelist and lecturer on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization and is quoted often in the financial press including Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business and thought leadership media appearances on Bloomberg, WGN, and WTTW Chicago Tonight.
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BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.