Cell therapy manufacturing startup Logicyte has won the inaugural $10,000 Biolocity Pitch Competition Award, recognizing its efforts to automate and improve cell therapy manufacturing. The competition connects Georgia Tech and Emory innovators with investors, entrepreneurs, and commercialization experts to help accelerate promising biomedical technologies toward patient impact.
Logicyte, led by Norh Asmare, co-founder and CEO, is building hardware, software, and modeling tools needed to enable fully autonomous cell therapy production. Its technology combines a universally compatible instrument and biochip that connects to bioreactors, continuously monitoring manufacturing processes, predicting errors, and automating one of the industry's most labor-intensive bottlenecks. By improving consistency, efficiency, and reliability, Logicyte has the potential to significantly advance regenerative medicine and cell therapy manufacturing.
Norh and his cofounders, Arif and Fatih, began developing analytical biochips during Norh's doctoral research. Over the following decade, interactions with pioneering researchers, patients, and industry leaders revealed both the remarkable promise of cell therapies and the manufacturing challenges limiting patient access. Those experiences inspired the founding of Logicyte, which is preparing to raise its seed round later this year.
"Biolocity continues to be a vital supporter of our mission. Its team brings deep experience across both academia and industry, allowing them to understand the needs of academic founders and identify practical pathways for translating research into viable commercial solutions," said Norh Asmare, co-founder and CEO of Logicyte.
Beyond the prize, all participating teams gained direct feedback from investors, entrepreneurs, and commercialization experts, helping them refine strategies for moving innovations from the lab to the marketplace.
"Our goal was never simply to choose a winner," said Angela Gill Nelms, Managing Director of Biolocity. "The real value of the competition was creating an environment where innovators could receive honest feedback from people who have built companies, invested in technologies, and successfully navigated the commercialization process. Those conversations will continue to shape these teams long after the competition ends.”
About Biolocity
Biolocity, funded by a Coulter Foundation Translational Endowment, is a partnership between Georgia Tech and Emory University dedicated to accelerating the commercialization of breakthrough biomedical innovations. Through funding, education, mentorship, and strategic connections, Biolocity helps innovators navigate the critical path from discovery to patient impact.
