From Consultant to Category Leader: How Hancock Software Scaled Smart

What began as a custom software solution for a single community agency is now a national leader powering energy efficiency programs for utilities, state governments, and community action agencies. Along the way, Hancock scaled through public policy shifts, growing market demand, and one especially memorable ballroom dancing trophy.

In 2025, Lily chose to sell, not to exit the company, but to expand. Hancock joined Banyan Software and entered a new chapter of growth while staying true to its mission.

Entrepreneurship doesn’t always begin with a bold vision. Sometimes, it finds you.

In the late ’90s, Lily Li was hired as a consultant to streamline how a community action agency managed its energy efficiency programs. Spreadsheets weren’t cutting it anymore, so she built a better system. It worked. So well, in fact, that clients urged her to take it further.

By 2004, Lily launched Hancock Software, a web-based solution enabling low-income energy programs to scale with transparency and control. The State of Louisiana was the first to sign on, with New Jersey and Pennsylvania following by 2008. And Lily was just getting started.

As a Chinese immigrant, woman, and a first-time founder without a traditional tech background, Lily faced more than just the usual startup challenges. She had to learn how to navigate unfamiliar business circumstances, overcome biases, and build trust in rooms where she often didn’t look or sound like anyone else. Guided by her instincts and expertise, Lily built Hancock step by step — one client, one solution, one bold decision at a time. Over the next two decades, she led the company through steady, mission-driven growth and positioned Hancock as a leader in energy efficiency software.

The inflection point came in 2009, as energy efficiency took center stage in Washington D.C. and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act prompted an unprecedented wave of clean energy investment. With stimulus funding flowing, Hancock became essential infrastructure. 

Over the next decade, ten more states came aboard while Lily and her team continually rolled out new tools for auditing, modeling, and automation. 

“We provided them a complete system with the transparency needed to run a government program,” Lily said. 

Hancock became the top cloud and mobile provider for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program and expanded its reach to utilities as well as commercial and industrial energy efficiency providers.

While many companies race to grow, Lily took a different approach. She built Hancock with patience and purpose. Long before serious buyer conversations began, she was quietly preparing to scale by hiring expert developers, continually iterating, and designing for the future.

“In my mind, product development never ends,” Lily said. “The market is growing, technology is growing, and it’s never ending. If you don’t adapt, you will be replaced.” 

As the sector boomed, it was clear Hancock had product-market fit, but limited capacity. 

Growth required resources, and resources meant finding the right partner.

“We knew there was a real need for our software in the market,” Lily said. “But if we didn’t scale fast, we’d miss the opportunity. We had a solid product and some great success stories, but we needed more resources to really grow. The fastest way to achieve this was through acquisition.”

Lily wasn’t looking for a payout. What she wanted was alignment. Multiple buyers showed interest, but it wasn’t until she met Banyan Software that the vision clicked.

“We chose Banyan because we believed in their approach,” Lily said. “Banyan didn’t want to change us. They truly wanted to support us, and guide us, in scaling our business.”

That commitment was tested early. Lily’s calendar was packed with a ballroom dancing competition in Connecticut. Rather than delay their meeting, Lily invited Banyan to meet her there. They showed up and Lily won her division. 

That meeting illustrated what Lily saw as one of Banyan’s biggest differentiators: a genuine interest in supporting founders, not just acquiring companies.

For Lily, the personal mattered as much as the professional. “I’ve spent my career building something meaningful, often in spaces where I had to prove myself first,” she said. “I wanted a partner who respected that.”

Unlike many founders, Lily didn’t step aside after the acquisition. Instead, she leaned in and transitioned into the Chief Product Officer role to focus on what she loves most: innovating.

“I’m not ready to retire. I love building the product,” she said. “And now, I get to focus on that.”

With Banyan’s support, Hancock is now scaling faster and smarter than ever. 

That support has already paid off with:

• Greater credibility in enterprise sales conversations
• Operational relief across HR, payroll, and compliance
• Help identifying and onboarding new leadership
• Cross-pollination with other innovative companies in the Banyan portfolio

“Be ready to tell your story clearly and know your value,” Lily advises. “I never thought of myself as a typical entrepreneur but maybe that’s the point. You just need to know your strengths and build from there.”

Lily’s experience shows that no matter your background, entrepreneurship is possible. The Hancock story proves that growth doesn’t have to come at the cost of your mission. When you find the right partner, you don’t have to leave your company to take it further.

“We’ve always had the advantage of being small, fast and lean to move and adapt quickly,” Lily said. “Now, we also have a strong backbone behind us.”