CANTILEVER INVESTORS - Key Persons
Keith brings a unique combination of a strong and deep technical and business background. Keith earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics studying under Dr. Arthur Epstein (Physics) and the Chemistry Nobel laureate Dr. Alan MacDiarmid.
He invented new medical technologies at Abbott Laboratories, led large R&D organizations at Monsanto, and subsequently was VP and CSO at a startup company Particle Dynamics International. Keith was a frequently invited chairman and member of scientific review panels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on technological issues related to medical imaging and drug delivery. He is named inventor on over 40 US patents, contributing to over $1 billion in worldwide sales.
Job Titles:
- Co Owner
- Materials Scientist
Dr. Michelle Tokarz is a passionate Materials Scientist with significant experience in technology development for leaders in many markets, and she is a successful entrepreneur - guiding start-ups through preliminary technical research and market analysis / customer discovery initiatives. Michelle's insight and judgement comes from her unique combination of academic best practices and industry's problem-solving challenges experience.
Dr. Tokarz developed her science and business acumen in the pharmaceutical industry, holding research chemistry and subsequent production roles for Merck and Eli Lilly. Participating with and assisting several groups in NSF ICorp customer discovery sessions, she led several teams through initial and full-scale, national programs. Michelle has also participated in several NSF SBIR review boards. She earned her Ph.D. in Materials Science and a dual Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Michelle has spent the last 18 years as a tech entrepreneur, currently with The Coretec Group as Vice President of Partnerships and Innovation, working with potential partners and customers to evaluate their products and mapping out a relevant tech roadmap for the organization. She has done similar work for Scops Coatings, LLC, a Michigan State University spinout. Prior, she was part of an energy-efficient lighting company, BDT LightSource/ AGT, which grew annual sales to $7.0 million+. After completing four rounds of funding, controlling interests were sold to Ushio American.
Michelle's introduction to tech startups was as a cofounder of MetaGlass Coatings, based upon her doctoral work at The University of Michigan. MetaGlass Coatings earned both Phase I and Phase 2 NSF STTR funding.
Mr. Ehlert brings over 45 years of Consulting Engineering Experience to the team. In 1981, he co-founded and led for 30 years Ehlert/Bryan, Inc., a consulting structural engineering firm practicing throughout the US and internationally. In 2011, he founded Ehlert Consulting Services advising clients on commercial and institutional developments ranging from $400 million to in excess of $1 billion.
Additionally, he provides litigation and claim support services to a variety of clients, both private and public entities. Mr. Ehlert received his BSCE Degree from Michigan Technological University in 1977 and has been licensed to practice engineering in over 17 states. He has served on the professional Advisory Committee for the MTU Department of Civil Engineering and has been honored by his appointment to the MTU Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Academy. Mr. Ehlert is a strong supporter of Education having served on Boards of Education for over 30 years at both the local and county levels.
Since 1991, John has been a state-certified Professional Engineer. He has a B.S. in Engineering from Michigan Technological University and an MBA from Wayne State University. A native of Michigan, he has over 35 years of experience in product testing, R&D, risk management, and new materials and product development. John previously led a technology monitoring task force of engineers and scientists at a top 100 manufacturing company and is currently assisting in product testing, fire and explosion origin and cause investigations at Safety Engineering Laboratories in Warren, Michigan.
Mr. Finch is a co-inventor on seven issued patents and numerous additional patent applications.
Mr. Finch has also volunteered a significant amount of personal time to Habitat for Humanity, Accounting Aid Society (AAS), his church, and the Boys Scouts of America (while proudly raising and mentoring two Eagle Scouts).
His hands-on expertise in new product development, patent strategy, and the manufacture and design of hundreds of different products, has been and will continue to be of great value to Cantilever.
Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, John Prista Freshley is a high-energy entrepreneur, company builder and leader with 20+ years of experience co-founding, developing and/or leading 10+ early-stage bioscience companies. He has worked alongside world-class scientists, expert product development teams, and global key opinion leaders to make breakthrough impacts on human health and society.
He also serves as Co-Founder & Chairman of Bioscience Navigators, Chairman of Curio Genomics, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Akeila Bio, and Head of Corporate Development for Cantilever portfolio company Peptinovo.
Previously, John served as President & CEO of ONL Therapeutics, an emerging ophthalmology company, through pre-IND and early clinical enabling studies. John is a co-inventor of ONL-1204, now in clinical development for retinal detachment, glaucoma, and dry AMD. Before ONL, Mr. Freshley led the launch of Compendia Bioscience, an early big-data cancer genomics company, as its Start-Up CEO and continued to serve the company, through its acquisition by Life Technologies (now Thermo Fisher) in 2012, as its Chief Business Officer.
Mr. Freshley's strengths include partnering with scientific founders to understand and enhance the company's vision and mission; product and business strategy development to drive both revenue and investment growth; raising early-stage capital (both investment and non-dilutive funding); assembling multi-disciplinary and globally recognized leadership and advisory teams; and, strategic partnership development, growth, and management.
Mr. Freshley is learning Portuguese and is fluent in football/soccer/futbol, which he finds widely spoken around the world. He enjoys good food, mostly local and inexpensive, that is shared with family, friends, and strangers the world over.
In 2004 Mr. Stinson founded Clear Image Devices, LLC, a highly successful medical device manufacturing company. Building and selling several lines of patient positioning devices for medical imaging, Mr. Stinson built a worldwide distribution network of more than 80 dealers and distributors. Mr. Stinson sold the business in 2017 and now works part time as a business consultant.
Prior to this, Mr. Stinson was Senior Vice President & Chief Technical Officer of Media Station, a leading manufacturer of computer games and media distribution technologies. Mr. Stinson has 25 years of experience in building teams to design and develop software products. As CTO, John led the engineering team that developed Media Station's set of proprietary authoring and playback tools, including the CD-ROM Game industry's first high-performance cross-platform playback engine.
In the role of Executive Producer, Mr. Stinson defined Media Station's overall title development process. This process, combined with the company's proprietary technologies, has resulted in the creation of more than 100 titles in 14 different languages.
Mr. Stinson joined Media Station from Compuware, where he managed the design of more than 20 software products. He also served as Manager of Product Development for KnowledgeWare, the nation's leading CASE tools company. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Product Development at Holland Systems.
Mr. Stinson holds both a Masters and Bachelors degree in engineering from the University of Michigan.
Job Titles:
- Intellectual PropertY, Business Development
Mr. Ehlert started his career in 1975 with Baxter Healthcare and continued there for more than 20 years, until he joined Allegiance Healthcare where he was a corporate officer responsible for Quality, Regulatory and R&D. During his time at Baxter, he worked in manufacturing operations for IV fluids, injectable drugs, simple medical devices and electronic infusion devices, and spent time expanding Baxter's presence in Asia. At Baxter, Mr. Ehlert had P&L responsibility for a major hub of Asian operations. Mr. Ehlert retired as Corporate Vice President for Global Quality and Regulatory at Hospira, a world leader in generic injectable pharmaceuticals and medication management systems.
Today, Mr. Ehlert operates as an Independent Board member and Angel Investor. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Stabilux Biosciences, Sterile State, Light Line Medical and BioQ Pharma. Mr. Ehlert received a B.S. in Microbiology from Michigan State University.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Investment Strategy
Mark G. Sellers has been a leader and visionary in the plastics manufacturing industry since he started his own company, "Moldmakers Incorporated," in 1982. The company began as a small handful of toolmakers in a garage shop and evolved into a world class provider of injection molds, tight-tolerance plastic components and specialty equipment. When Mark sold the company, now called "MGS Mfg. Group," to private equity in 2016, it enjoyed annual sales of more than $200M with facilities in the United States, Mexico, and Ireland.
Mark established Alligator Holdings, LLC in 2018, as a growing group of companies focused on bringing innovational products and technologies to market through advanced engineering, manufacturing and quality processes. Mark remains connected to his passions, serving as chairman of the board.
Mark served as a board member and in leadership positions for over 15 years for the SPE (Society of Plastics Engineers). He had roles including chairman, vice-chairman, treasurer and secretary for both the international association and at the regional level for the Milwaukee Chapter. For nine years, Mark served as board director of Commerce State Bank. He served his State of Wisconsin Tool and Die Apprenticeship at Plastronics Inc., Milwaukee, and completed his educational studies at MATC (Milwaukee Area Technical College).
Job Titles:
- Founder MIHQ, Business Dev Advisor
- Founder MIHQ, Business Development Advisor
Mark Smith has over 30 years' experience in acquiring, developing, operating and managing real estate. His portfolio includes industrial, office, residential, retail and agricultural properties.
Over the past 20 years, Mark and his team have focused on facilities with specialized infrastructure such as wet lab, clean rooms, and manufacturing capabilities.
Since 2015, Mark has managed Mi-HQ, a 140,000 square foot incubator accelerator facility. This facility is home to approximately 50 companies. The diverse clientele at Mi-HQ has widely varying needs and space configurations. Mark and his team have demonstrated the ability to rapidly reconfigure spaces to meet tenants needs over and over again.
In addition to his experience in real estate, Mark has also been involved in several successful startup companies. These include companies in the medical device, fitness, and agri-business industries.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- General and Managing Partner
Michael Mortlock is an experienced executive and entrepreneur with 30 years of executive experience in finance, technology, facilities management, hospitality, and customer service management. He has developed and implemented several new "businesses within the businesses" for large hospitality companies, as well as owning and operating a regional auto paint supplier. Michael is a co-founder and managing partner of Cantilever Business Partners, an entrepreneurial agency providing strategic and executive services to early-stage companies. He is also General Partner of the Cantilever Fund and leads all back office, finance, and accounting activities. Michael studied Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University and earned an MBA from The University of Phoenix.
Michael has an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a BA from MSU, with extensive work in mathematics, chemistry, and engineering.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Owner
- General and Managing Partner
- Investor, CEO and Board Member in Several of Cantilever
Steve Tokarz is active in early-stage company development for the past 30 years. In his last corporate role, Steve served as Sr VP of Product Development and Engineering working domestically and internationally for Masco Corporation a Fortune 200 company with revenues of $7+ billion. He transitioned to the start-up world, starting his own companies, investing & raising $20+ million for start-ups and early-stage SMEs, and establishing relationships with USA & China investors. He is founder of Cantilever Investors which blends the best of VC and PE to invest and support early-stage companies as both investors and, for the select few, operators in the company. Cantilever also has close relationships with the Tech Transfer offices of the Univ. of Michigan, Michigan State University (MSU), Western Michigan (WMU) & Michigan Tech (MTU) Universities, serving as Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. Cantilever successfully spun-out five university companies, raising over $5M in nondilutive capital.
Thru Cantilever, Steve is an investor, CEO and board member in several of Cantilever portfolio medical/life science SMEs including a). Brio, a university spin-off of endotracheal tube placement products. Brio's products help to enable clinicians and first responders to secure airways as part of the life-saving procedure, intubation. $5M in angel funds + $1.5M SBIR I & II raised to advance Brio to market; b). StabiLux Biosciences a spin-out from Michigan Technological Univ. Its platform enables faster development of medical treatments by precisely controlling and increasing the brightness of dyes used in bio-medical imaging. c) Peptinovo Biopharma a patented drug delivery platform, Peptide-Amphiphile Lipid Micelle (PALM), that selectively targets higher doses of proven chemotherapies into tumors, keeping the chemo away from healthy tissues. PALM prevents serious side effects like peripheral neuropathy from occurring, improving patient outcomes by eliminating dose-limiting side effects while improving safety--something no other chemotherapeutic has been able to accomplish.