Richard C. Cilento, Jr.

Entrepreneur – Rich Cilento has more than 25 years of domestic and international business experience across a broad set of highly technical industries.

Rich has led companies in nearly every stage of the business life cycle. An Aeronautical & Astronomical Engineer; Rich’s life sciences experiences began as a Space Shuttle Flight Controller at the Johnson Space Center, where he built Space Shuttle flight plans for the Department of Defense Star Wars program and a diverse set of government-funded technology and life science experimentation. Rich was a lead engineer who designed and planned the Space Station assembly sequences for the construction of the International Space Station.

Rich has executive-level knowledge of capital markets, including venture capital, private equity, and public markets with IPO experience. Rich received the prestigious honor, winning the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. From a Board member perspective, he has always enjoyed mentoring Entrepreneurs, CEOs, and Ph.D.’s developing purpose-driven, high-growth business ventures across a diverse set of markets.  As a  Board  member  for  Mercury  Data  Science,  Rich  is  supporting  this innovative life science focused company using artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve care  and  enhance  therapeutic  discoveries  with  artificial  intelligence  and  machine  learning  by integrating computational biology, genomics, bioinformatics, and physics.

As Chairman & CEO of GlycosBio, Inc., Rich is leading a mission to nourish and enhance the lives of people at all stages of life with a   focus on fragile populations struggling with microbiome dysbiosis. GlycosBio scientists also work to reduce the dependence of antibiotics and prescription medication on children using novel natural antimicrobial and antiviral technologies.  An ag-tech enthusiast and farmer, Rich enjoys Non-GMO farming in Illinois. Ethical investments are focused on leveraging the natural resources of Ghana, Africa to improve the quality of life and the economic development of the local Ghana community. Rich help fund the construction and operations of a water purification and production factory in Kumasi that provides safe drinking water in the region. Rich has also contributed to clean technology, medical sciences, pharmaceutical, higher education, and space sectors as an angel investor.

Rich was the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of FuelQuest, Inc. (acquired by Saracen). Rich  led  ZyTax  Inc. a technology company that developed into the largest excise tax platforms (acquired by Avalara Software, NYSE). As a public company Officer, he supported the IPO of XL Connect Solutions (Nasdaq), where he led the technology-enabled SaaS business for XL Connect (acquired by Xerox). He held Senior Executive level positions for Xerox Corporation (NYSE).