# Michael Chiu

> Michael Chiu is the CEO of Kytopen, a Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech spun out of an MIT lab that builds the Flowfect platform - a non-viral, continuous-flow way to shuttle DNA, mRNA and CRISPR payloads into living cells at manufacturing scale. A mechanical engineer with a PhD and MBA from MIT, Chiu has spent his career turning laboratory hardware into shipped products, founding and selling companies in energy harvesting, healthcare, and bioprocessing before taking Kytopen's helm in August 2023 to push cell therapy manufacturing out of the bottleneck.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Kytopen
- **Organizations:** Kytopen, Erbi Biosystems, Automation Engineering Inc. (AEi), Trophos Energy, GeckoCap, Teradyne
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. Mechanical Engineering (Summa Cum Laude), University of Minnesota, M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.B.A., Sloan Fellows Program, MIT Sloan School of Management
- **Known for:** Appointed CEO of MIT spinout Kytopen in August 2023., Multiple successful company exits: Trophos Energy (sold 2010), Erbi Biosystems (acquired by Merck KGaA/MilliporeSigma), AEi (acquired by Mycronic)., Led commercialization of the Flowfect platform into GMP-scale manufacturing of an engineered cell therapy.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Held engineering, product development and marketing roles at Teradyne.
- **2010** — Founded Trophos Energy, a venture-backed biological fuel cell and energy harvesting company, and sold it.
- **—** — Founded and led GeckoCap, a healthcare technology startup.
- **—** — Held executive roles including CTO at Automation Engineering Inc. (AEi), acquired by Mycronic AB.
- **—** — Served as CEO of Erbi Biosystems, acquired by Merck KGaA / MilliporeSigma.
- **2023-08** — Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Kytopen, succeeding co-founder Paulo Garcia.
- **2024** — Kytopen's Flowfect Tx system sold and installed to a publicly traded CAR-T company; Flowfect used in GMP manufacture of an engineered cell therapy.
- **2026** — Kytopen closes Series B led by Telegraph Hill Partners to scale globally across the U.S. and Europe.

## Achievements

- Appointed CEO of MIT spinout Kytopen in August 2023.
- Multiple successful company exits: Trophos Energy (sold 2010), Erbi Biosystems (acquired by Merck KGaA/MilliporeSigma), AEi (acquired by Mycronic).
- Led commercialization of the Flowfect platform into GMP-scale manufacturing of an engineered cell therapy.
- Earned four degrees from MIT and University of Minnesota, including a PhD from MIT.
- Graduated summa cum laude in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Kytopen closed a Series B round led by Telegraph Hill Partners to expand commercialization across the U.S. and Europe and grow its board.
- **2024-07** — Kytopen's Flowfect Tx clinical- and manufacturing-scale system sold to a publicly traded CAR-T company; Flowfect selected for GMP manufacture of an engineered cell therapy.

## Links

- Website: https://kytopen.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelachiu
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/kytopen

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-chiu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-01