Kornelius Bankston

Kornelius is the managing partner of TECHPLUG. He leads the firm’s strategy and business development efforts. He’s a graduate of Morehouse College (BSc. Chemistry), Emory University (MSc. Biomolecular Chemistry) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (MBA- Management of Technology). 

After graduating from Emory University, Kornelius worked for a startup founded by Dr. Dennis Liotta as a business development intern. He went on to become a project manager with the Georgia Department of Economic Development where he worked to help recruit Baxter (now known as Takeda) to Georgia. He moved on to manage Morehouse School of Medicine’s first Office of Technology Transfer and Office of Industry Sponsored Clinical trials.  He was able to help underserved populations who traditionally do not participate in clinical trials to become more engaged in clinical research. Kornelius served as the director of bioscience ecosystem expansion for the Metro Atlanta Chamber where he worked to recruit bioscience companies to the Metro Atlanta region.  While at the Metro Atlanta Chamber he launched Global Health ATL, www.globalhealthatl.com, to promote Atlanta as the Center for Global Health. Most recently, Kornelius served as the director of business development for Color Genomics leading the company’s southeast business development efforts. Kornelius leads Strategic Partnerships for Simple HealthKit a social impact diagnostic company located in Silicon Valley.

He leads The Lab by TECHPLUG powered by Healthy Blue which is a health innovation center in the Treme’ community of New Orleans. The mission is to address health disparities in community within priority populations. Kornelius is an advocate for developing equitable health solutions for vulnerable populations. He has extensive experience in Economic Development, Tech transfer, and business development. He also serves as a mentor for Techstars and is a member of the Advisory Board for Paincare Labs.