2Flo Ventures

Founder of Plowshares Asset Management, a private company focused on strategic healthcare investments.

Partner at 2Flo Ventures and a physician (MD).

Deepak Malik leads fundraising across funds and strategies at Alteria Capital, with more than 23 years of experience in fund-raising and investor engagement across public and private markets. Before Alteria, he headed investor relations at Northern Arc Investments, managing capital relationships across alternative credit strategies and working with financial institutions, family offices, UHNIs, and trusts. He holds a postgraduate degree in Business Management from the University of Mumbai.

Krisila Benson is Managing Director of Propelevate and Venture Partner and Impact Advisor at 2Flo Ventures, focusing on the intersection of social impact and commercial ventures. She has operational experience across 70 countries, involvement in over $100 million in funding, expertise in gender lens investing, and prior roles at TechnoServe, PSI, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She holds an MBA from UC Berkeley and a BA in Political Science from Boston University, and is fluent in English and French with proficiency in Spanish and conversational Hausa.

Rod Cotton is an independent board director and venture partner serving Castle Biosciences, Eisai Pharmaceuticals U.S., and Moleculera Biosciences, as well as a venture partner to 2Flo Ventures and advisory board member to General Genomics. He founded Cotton Ventures to provide strategic counsel to executives in biotech, pharma, and health tech, drawing on more than 40 years of healthcare industry experience including a 20-year tenure at Roche Diagnostics where he served as Senior Vice President of Strategy & Transformation and Chief of Staff to the CEO. Cotton previously held leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline and Baxter International, and serves on the Board of Directors of Community Health Network, a nonprofit health system.

Listed as a judge for the 2Flo Ventures Health Equity Pitch Competition; serves as Executive Director at Roivant Social Ventures.

Azurii Collier is Director II of Enterprise Innovation at AbbVie, where she leads large-scale transformation initiatives across global biopharmaceutical R&D. She brings expertise in early-stage biotechnology commercialization, innovation portfolio development, and science-driven policy, supported by training in cognitive neuroscience. Collier serves as a board chair and speaker on topics related to pharmaceutical innovation and enterprise strategy.

Christina Broomes is founder and principal of CB GuardPoint Bio LLC, where she advises biotech companies on chemistry, manufacturing, and controls strategy across development, technology transfer, and scale-up phases. She has held manufacturing operations roles at major biotech firms and served in strategic operations at Moderna, with expertise spanning early- to late-stage clinical development, CDMO management, regulatory compliance, and supply chain optimization across rare disease, infectious disease, and oncology programs.

Christopher Whitfield is Chief Executive Officer of Antigenix Therapeutics, a spinout company developing antibody-based oncology therapies. He brings over 25 years of biopharmaceutical leadership experience, including 17 years at Eli Lilly and Company where he served as CEO of Eli Lilly South Africa, and a tenure as Executive Director and Regional General Manager for Africa at Gilead Sciences. Whitfield has founded and scaled multiple healthcare companies focused on African market expansion and also serves as an advisor to venture capital and private equity firms on healthcare transactions and strategy.

Listed as a judge for the 2Flo Ventures Health Equity Pitch Competition; serves as Investor at Impact Engine.

Eric Floyd is a life sciences executive with experience in drug development, regulatory strategy, and quality management across the industry. He has worked on fast-track approvals and securing worldwide regulatory clearances, and has built relationships with global regulatory authorities. Floyd currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors at the University of Illinois Alumni Association and has incorporated AI technologies into regulatory and manufacturing processes.

Harrison Esterly is a Venture Fellow at 2Flo Ventures and an independent consultant advising biotech startups on strategy, operations, and fundraising. He holds a PhD in chemistry from UW-Madison, where his research applied ultrafast 2D-IR spectroscopy to study the structure of amyloid oligomers associated with type-2 diabetes. He has also worked with Wisconsin Investment Partners and 2Flo Ventures on due diligence and early-stage investment decisions.

Jerome Bailey is the owner of Bailey Clinical Services, LLC and has held the position of VP of Operations at Longeveron, a biotechnology company developing regenerative therapies. With over 25 years in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, he has experience spanning early and late-phase clinical development, operational management, vendor management, licensing, and CRO management. His background includes leading oncology programs through clinical development phases and building global pharmaceutical development teams across multiple therapeutic areas.

Jessica Tam is Vice President of Strategy and Growth and serves as an Advisory Board Member at Sepsis Alliance. With over ten years of experience in medical device, pharmaceutical, and digital health commercialization, she has managed financial modeling, technology assessment, and commercial viability analysis across numerous medtech opportunities. She maintains active relationships within the medtech and digital health startup ecosystem.

LaToya Coffey serves as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Operations at Annexon Biosciences. She has held roles spanning business operations, clinical management, pharmaceutical sales, and teaching, with scientific training supporting her work across global, cross-functional product teams. Coffey also serves as a board member and advisor.

Lynnette Mays is a consultant at Presidia Partners with institutional investment experience spanning fundraising, business development, consulting, and asset management across real estate, infrastructure, private equity, and energy sectors. She has founded and served on boards of non-profit organizations and works in impact investing.

Melissa Hamilton is a healthcare executive with over 15 years of experience across payer, provider, consumer, and pharmaceutical sectors. She serves as an advisory board member for strategy and commercialization at 2Flo Ventures and provides mentorship and board advisory services to early-stage companies. Hamilton is also active in Chicago's social impact community, serving as a board director and investment committee member with Social Venture Partners.

Michael Burrows is a strategic advisor to biotech executives and institutional investors with background in life science public markets and scientific training. He works at the intersection of biology and institutional capital, focusing on translating scientific and clinical insights into commercial opportunities and capital market strategies. Burrows maintains a network across institutional investment, academic, and pharmaceutical communities.

Listed as a judge for the 2Flo Ventures Health Equity Pitch Competition; serves as Vice President at OCA Ventures.

Michelle Rider is a Venture Partner at Redesign Health with twenty years of experience in healthcare, technology, and consumer markets. She has held marketing and commercial leadership roles at Teladoc (through IPO), Amazon Care, CVS/Aetna, and MDLIVE (acquired for $2 billion), as well as earlier positions at Unilever and Coca-Cola. She serves as Board President of the Kellogg Alumni Network of Texas and advises founders and executive teams on brand strategy, commercialization, and market expansion.

Mukesh Kumar is Chairman of the Board at Akan Biosciences and CEO of FDAMap. He began his career as a staff scientist at NIH focused on gene therapy, then developed expertise in intellectual property, licensing, and regulatory affairs while managing over 50 global clinical trials across 34 countries. His experience spans technology transfer, global regulatory strategy, clinical trial management, and GCP/GLP audits, with current work focused on bringing therapeutic and diagnostic products from Asia and Latin America to US and EU markets.

Nicole Walker is a healthcare advisor and board director with experience spanning operating roles and venture investing. She holds an engineering degree from Stanford University and has held positions including Head of Marketing for Asia-Pacific at ACS/Guidant, strategic market leadership roles at Abbott focused on glucose monitoring technologies, and founding director of Abbott Biotech Ventures. She currently serves as a director on the board of Springboard Enterprises and previously was a managing partner at Arboretum Ventures and Baird Capital.

Oversees the firm's operations and financial strategy and supports portfolio companies operationally.

Pam Simpkins is Managing Partner at Mezzopointe, LLC, bringing 25+ years of biopharma R&D experience and over a decade of institutional investment background. She has expertise in R&D finance and pipeline development leading to regulatory approval, with a track record of building and divesting business units and companies. Simpkins serves as an advisor to executives and board members on biopharma strategy and M&A matters.

Listed as a judge for the 2Flo Ventures Health Equity Pitch Competition; serves as Investment Associate at TAWANI Enterprises.

Peter McCauley Sr. is a Certified Physician Executive with over 30 years of healthcare industry experience who serves as Strategic Advisor at 2Flo Ventures. His background combines clinical practice as a pediatrician with corporate leadership roles focused on value-based healthcare reimbursement models and inclusive leadership. He has been recognized by Becker's Healthcare as one of the Top 149 Black Healthcare Leaders in 2023 and by Crain's Chicago Business as one of Chicago's Notable Black Executive Leaders.

Ramona Burress is Chief Development Officer at Onyx Medical Wellness and a clinical pharmacist with over 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotech strategy. She has led cross-functional teams in global drug development, market access, and commercial analytics, with expertise in emerging markets and health equity strategy. Her background combines clinical pharmacy practice with executive leadership focused on translating patient insights and market data into product and population health strategy.

Ray Knight is co-founder and partner at Scientific Amici, a healthcare consulting firm that connects healthcare providers, clinical trial sponsors, and contract research organizations. The firm focuses on accelerating study start-up, improving site readiness, and increasing equitable access to research through a consolidated contracting and budget coordination model. Knight has prior experience in executive search, life sciences, banking, and public sector leadership, with background in founding and scaling firms and managing global teams.

Vickie Laurent is Senior Director of Global Regulatory Affairs at Eli Lilly and Company, bringing over 16 years of pharmaceutical industry experience. Her background spans both large and small biopharmaceutical organizations, with expertise in regulatory strategy, global drug approvals, and clinical development through market access. Her work emphasizes patient-centered outcomes in regulatory decision-making.

Zach Selch is Fractional Head of Revenue Growth North America at Kimetec GmbH with over 35 years of commercial experience across startups, manufacturers, venture-backed, and public corporations. He has built sales organizations and commercial infrastructure for companies operating in 135 countries, generated over $1 billion in sales, and managed distributor networks across multiple continents, including turning an underperforming South Asian territory from under $500K to $30 million in three years. He currently advises founders and executives on revenue growth strategy, market entry, and commercial operations in various capacities.