NOTE: HISTORICAL POST FOR REFERENCE
Second Session of 2014 Focuses on Starting Up – How to Avoid Pitfalls as an Entrepreneur Starting a New Venture
Everywhere, Md. — Startup Maryland (startupmd.org) announced that Lily Bengfort will participate as the second instructor-mentor for Raise Your Game™.
Raise Your Game is Startup Maryland’s bootcamp initiative developed to provide the entrepreneurial community with a structured educational program and to help startup CEOs and founders understand and employ the building blocks of strong startups and startup communities. The new twist for this bootcamp is that the sessions will be proctored/taught by experienced (often serial) entrepreneurs who are very well-recognized and respected.
Ms. Bengfort is an award winning entrepreneur who has co-founded and built two successful firms, both of which were acquired by larger companies: Preferred Pest Control acquired by American Pest and CenGen Inc. a leader in the field of highly mobile tactical wireless networks acquired (2011) by DRS Technologies, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica Group (FNC.MI), a multi-billion dollar defense contractor which ranks among the top 10 global players in aerospace, defense and security.
Other ventures for Ms. Bengfort have included leading edge hardware and software solutions for networking and communications, including secure highly mobile ad hoc networks using voice, video and data sharing applications in disruptive bandwidth constrained environments as well as service areas.
“Lily is one of the most recognizable leading-women in Maryland entrepreneurship and with her track-record of results she is an ideal mentor for young startup entrepreneurs,” stated Michael Binko, Founder / CE), Startup Maryland. “With a cross-section of industries in her background Lily knows first-hand some of the common pitfalls to avoid when considering such daunting challenges as selling to the Federal government or deciding when and how to sell your company.”
With government clients in the military and national security areas, Ms. Bengfort built CenGen into a multi-million-dollar concern, winning several national awards for exceptional service and achievement including the U.S. Small Business Administration Maryland Business person of the year in 2010 and DARPA Director’s Award for helping the agency fulfill its mission to conceive, explore and demonstrate advanced and breakthrough technologies in 2005. She was named Influential Marylander for Technology in 2011 by The Daily Record and Maryland Technology Company of the year in 2006.
Guyana, South American-born, Ms. Bengfort is no stranger to accolades and recognition. In 2009, she received the FIRN American Success Award and was selected to be a Fellow of the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law and the Maryland Judiciary’s Mediation and Conflict Resolution Programs in 2012.
Currently, Ms. Bengfort is president of MINC-IT where she actively advises and invests in early-stage education and digital technology ventures.