California State University, Los Angeles alumnus John Chi won the top prize at the 4th Annual Cox Business Get Started Orange County Pitch competition.

The Alhambra resident is the chief executive officer of Synova Life Sciences, which has developed a new system for accessing stem cells.

“The business pitch judges recognized John’s potential and the strong impact his technology can have in meeting the needs of patients with degenerative conditions,” said Howard Xu, professor of microbiology and director for the LA BioSpace incubator at Cal State LA.

Chi founded the business while pursuing a Master of Biotechnology through the Program for Applied Biotechnology Studies. Under the instruction of Cal State LA’s Xu and other professors, the graduate program gave Chi greater experience in laboratory work and research literature while he learned about molecular and cell biology.