Maria Flynn

Maria Flynn is an entrepreneur, engineer, executive, and investor whose career spans pharmaceutical technology, health tech, and venture capital. Flynn works with high-growth leaders, companies, investors, and entrepreneurial support organizations, drawing on experience as an entrepreneur, executive, engineer, investor, and coach. She earned degrees from University of Chicago, Stanford University, and Kansas State University. Before launching her own ventures, Flynn served as a director at Cerner Corporation, where she held profit and loss responsibility for a life sciences business unit providing drug safety software and services to pharmaceutical companies. She also established a new enterprise within Cerner focused on regional healthcare software.

As CEO of Orbis Biosciences, Flynn led a technology company that advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing and was acquired by Adare Pharmaceuticals. Orbis Biosciences was named a finalist for the FierceBiotech and FiercePharma Innovation Awards, with its "Optimum Delivery Platform" recognized in the Drug Delivery Technology category. The company secured commercial partnerships, including a licensing agreement with a major consumer products company to develop differentiated products. The acquisition by Adare Pharmaceuticals expanded the reach of Orbis technologies and services.

After Orbis Biosciences, Flynn founded Ambiologix, a consulting and training company supporting entrepreneurs in innovation and business growth. As managing director of Techstars Kansas City, Flynn invested in and coached companies in health tech, biotech, fintech, deep tech, and consumer tech. Through Ambiologix, she has worked with founders from more than 40 companies. Flynn is the author of "Make Opportunity Happen," an Amazon bestselling book that serves as the foundation for her keynote speeches and workshops. She is the founder and chair of the advisory board of Digital Health KC and serves on the board of directors of BioNexus KC.

Flynn has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of its Entrepreneurial Women to Watch and has received the Pipeline Entrepreneurs' Inspiration Award and Central Exchange's STEMMy Enterprising Innovator Award. Flynn leads the Patterson Family Foundation, an organization with $1.5 billion in assets focused on supporting rural communities. Under her leadership, the foundation restructured its grantmaking approach, expanding access across four priority areas. Flynn also established the Patterson Fellows Program, a three-year fellowship supporting entrepreneurs in building sustainable, scalable businesses that strengthen rural prosperity. Flynn's background in engineering, entrepreneurship, and community leadership positions her as a knowledgeable voice in pharmaceutical technology, health tech, and venture capital.