[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="6" gal_title="CONNECTpreneur XVIII"]

Guest feature from Montgomery County Government. Follow Montgomery County on Facebook and Twitter.

With more than 500 registrants, CONNECTpreneur XVIII was an incredible success. The event was recently held in Bethesda, marking its inaugural debut in Maryland.

CEO of Tech 2000 and Appnetic, Tien Wong, kicked off the event by introducing keynote speaker and special guest, Mark Walsh of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Walsh shared information about his role with the SBA as well as gave some sound advice to startup companies. Walsh's current position with the SBA is helping to get innovative technologies associated with startups into the hands of the government agencies that need them.

After Walsh and Wong concluded their discussion, nine startup companies searching for funding were given six minutes to pitch their idea to a room full of investors. The event continued with a panel of experts discussing "What's Really Going on in Venture Capital?" The panel shared insight on the investors who are most likely to invest today.

A special thanks to the Montgomery County sponsors who made this memorable event possible: Snyder Cohn; DHG; Shulman Rogers; Biohealth Innovation; Maryland Department of Commerce; and Montgomery County Department of Economic Development.

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