Upcoming Event
Wednesday, April 24th, 5:30 pm
Investor Meets Founder in a Fireside Chat
Paul F. Burton has served as the Managing Director of 2Flo Ventures, a start-up studio and early-stage healthcare investor since May, 2021. Through 2Flo Ventures, Paul provides strategic and financial advice to healthcare companies.
In 2010, he founded and continues to serve as Managing Principal of Burton Advisory, Inc., which provides strategic and financial advice to healthcare companies, drawing from over 20 years of experience in corporate finance and strategic advisory services. In connection therewith, since December 2018, Mr. Burton has been the Chief Executive Officer of Akan Biosciences, a biotech start-up company developing regenerative medicinal therapeutics. From 2019 he also has been serving as the Chief Financial Officer of Temprian Therapeutics. From 2019 through 2022 he served as the fractional CFO for both Cancer IQ and 4D Healthware. From 2019 through 2022, Mr. Burton was also an Entrepreneur in Residence at Northwestern University, supporting students and faculty with healthcare-oriented commercialization projects. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer of ResQ Pharma, Inc. In 2013 he co-founded Vivacelle Bio, Inc., where he served as Chief Financial Officer and a member of its board of directors.
Paul currently serves as a member of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium’s VC Advisory Committee, as a member of MATTER, a Chicago-based healthcare incubator, and the Bunker Labs, an incubator started in Chicago for U.S. military veterans. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of Millennium Beacon, a healthcare incubator based on the South Side of Chicago, seeking to serve overlooked populations. Prior thereto, Paul worked as an investment banking associate at Salomon Brothers (now Citigroup Corporate & Investment Bank). He also served as a United States Regular Army Commissioned Officer (Infantry).
Paul earned his JD and MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned two Bachelor’s Degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Ravinia Festival, an internationally-renowned, not-for-profit music festival.
In 2010, he founded and continues to serve as Managing Principal of Burton Advisory, Inc., which provides strategic and financial advice to healthcare companies, drawing from over 20 years of experience in corporate finance and strategic advisory services. In connection therewith, since December 2018, Mr. Burton has been the Chief Executive Officer of Akan Biosciences, a biotech start-up company developing regenerative medicinal therapeutics. From 2019 he also has been serving as the Chief Financial Officer of Temprian Therapeutics. From 2019 through 2022 he served as the fractional CFO for both Cancer IQ and 4D Healthware. From 2019 through 2022, Mr. Burton was also an Entrepreneur in Residence at Northwestern University, supporting students and faculty with healthcare-oriented commercialization projects. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer of ResQ Pharma, Inc. In 2013 he co-founded Vivacelle Bio, Inc., where he served as Chief Financial Officer and a member of its board of directors.
Paul currently serves as a member of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium’s VC Advisory Committee, as a member of MATTER, a Chicago-based healthcare incubator, and the Bunker Labs, an incubator started in Chicago for U.S. military veterans. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of Millennium Beacon, a healthcare incubator based on the South Side of Chicago, seeking to serve overlooked populations. Prior thereto, Paul worked as an investment banking associate at Salomon Brothers (now Citigroup Corporate & Investment Bank). He also served as a United States Regular Army Commissioned Officer (Infantry).
Paul earned his JD and MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned two Bachelor’s Degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Ravinia Festival, an internationally-renowned, not-for-profit music festival.
George Pappas is the CEO and Founder of Schedule 1 Therapeutics to develop cannabinoid medicines for FDA approval. Schedule 1 has raised $3.5 million in equity and grant funding. From 2001, George led policy initiatives with the nation’s top groups advancing U.S. state and federal cannabis regulations. As Field Director at Americans for Safe Access, at the time the nation's leading medical cannabis patient advocacy NGO, he worked on the Obama Administration's federal policy change that enabled the US cannabis markets we see today. In 2009, he was the 1st hire at the international wing of Bedrocan BV, the sole contracted cannabis raw material supplier to the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport, one of the most advanced medicinal cannabis “special access programs” in the world. At Bedrocan, for years the only source of pharmaceutical-quality cannabis available on special access prescription and for clinical research in Europe, he led projects in emerging markets in Canada, Israel, multiple European countries, and beyond. The acquisition of Bedrocan’s Canadian subsidiary led to the formation of Canopy Growth, at one time the world's largest cannabis company.