John P. Engels

John Engels is a founder and investor focused on new technology development and commercialization. John co-founded AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN, Russell 2000), a leading medical technology company dedicated to peripheral nerve repair. At AxoGen from 2002 to 2017, John served in various leadership roles, including sourcing, negotiating, and managing its flagship products and partnerships; managing seed, venture and growth capital financing; setting up and running manufacturing operations; and leading its international sales and business development efforts expanding into Europe, South America and Asia. Prior to AxoGen, John Engels worked with the University of Florida, Saffron Hill Ventures and others on entrepreneurship and venture funding projects. John started his career at CACM, a boutique investment banking firm that pioneered innovative emissions and energy trading markets. John is a Board member of: Oxicool, a privately-held company providing disruptive cooling technologies; MMI, a private robotic microsurgery company bringing super dexterity to surgery; BioFlorida, the voice of Florida’s life sciences industry, representing nearly 6,000 establishments that employ nearly 83,000 Floridians. John is on the advisory board of UF Innovate, supporting an innovation ecosystem at the Univeristy of Florida. He holds a MBA in Management and Operations from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Chicago.