Press Release: Friday, June 24th, 2022
On June 1st, 2022, bwtech@UMBC held its 2nd annual Cyber Summer Pitch Competition for Maryland New Venture Fellows for Cybersecurity. The pitch competition was the culmination of a five month program that pairs teams of fellows, mentors and technologists together.
The program is called “the MD Cyber Fellowship, and features graduate students that are interested in Technology and Entrepreneurship from universities across Maryland. Teams of fellows, mentors, and technologists from Maryland Universities have worked for the last five months to take their innovative technologies and transform them into viable software solutions and companies.
There were two big winners from the Cyber Summer Pitch that we want to celebrate! Congratulations to Fellow of the year, Laksmi Kavya Ravi, who received a $1,000.00 award for representing RivueX (SAAS Accounting for Insurance agencies), Technologist – Nigel Knowles new technology idea. We also want to give another big congratulations to our overall pitch competition winner, Tanisha Brandon who pitched for Mindstand Technologies, founded by Michael Ogunsanya.
Cyber Fellow of the Year:
Kavya said, “I come from a family of Entrepreneurs. I always dreamt of having my own business. Participating in the MD Cyber Fellowship Program provided me with an opportunity to learn new skills in customer discovery, Sales, and many more which definitely help me succeed. Working with Nigel Knowles and our mentor Bill Anderson enhanced my professional skill sets which will complement my Graduate work in Data Science. I really feel lucky to be a part of this program and I would like to Thank Brenda Jackson, Marjorie Cota, Bill Anderson, Will Anderson, and Nigel Knowles for their continuous support”.
Cyber Summer Pitch Winner – Mindstand Technologies:
It was amazing to see the culmination of the Cyber Fellowship journey in pitch competition with the Fellows presenting new innovative cyber technologies. This evening demonstrated the value of the EDA program and growth opportunity for future entrepreneurs. Congratulations for a job well done by all of the teams! – Donna Ruginski
If you would like to learn more about how to get involved with our next cohort of cyber fellows, please keep an eye on our cyber fellowship page on the bwtech@UMBC website, or reach out to our Director of Entrepreneurial Services, Marjie Cota at [email protected].